Beyond Redemption
by Mililap
Summary: For redemption to be granted, justice must be served first. After helping Diana reforge her religion alongside Leona, Riven is free from her duties with the Rakkor, but still has Irelia's offer hanging over her head. Deciding it's time, the Noxian will take her up on it, but her heart has a doubt that she cannot shake off. Will Irelia grant her redemption or bring her into justice?
1. Author's Note, Important!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE. KINDA IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ.**

Hello! You may know me, you may not. In any case, all you need to know about **_me_** is that I'm Mili and I just really love my gay ass LoL ships.

Now, before you read **_this story _**there are some things you **_DO _**need to know; This fic is a spin-off of another fic I've written; **Silver and Gold. **If you haven't read that one, I _would _advice that you do, since there are some points in this fic that you may not get, for they follow what had happened in SnG. If not understanding some things doesn't really bother you, then please go ahead and read! Just know that you may see some concepts/story points/etcetera that may sound weird to you. Reading the fic before this one isn't exactly vital to enjoy this one, I guess? but it definitely enhances the experience and makes you fully understand the story and the context behind it (Specially with all that happened regarding the Noxian invasion to Ionia. Definitely worth at least checking that out in this one chapter; s/12747964/27/Silver-And-Gold)

Apart from that, something I've told y'all before in, yes, you guessed it, Silver and Gold; I'll keep doing the same thing I've done in that one and _**I'll mix both the old and new lores**_ to the story's best interests. Riven is Riven, not many changes in her, but Irelia is kind of a mashup between the old and the new versions of her; Think of reworked Irelia, but with her old name (In this one she's Irelia Lito, not Xan Irelia).

And last but not least, it has been brought to my attention that I totally ignored how Runeterra's map actually works (LMFAO) so I'll be **_trying _**(emphasis on the verb **_try_**) to remain loyal to it this time.

If you happen to enjoy the ride, consider maybe buying me a coffee over here! /mililap

Having said all that, I hope you _do _enjoy. Cheers!


	2. Of Nightmares And Dreams

It was the same dream, every night.

She was in that bloody battlefield, her dark armor on, her humongous blade on her hand, fighting against her reluctant enemy.

She was striking and being struck, just like every night, just like every dream.

Just like every nightmare.

She knew the whole story already; she would try to kill her opponent, her opponent would try to kill her first. Then, that fiery arrow would fly through the sky, the one that would put an end to it all, killing her squadron and dooming her into a self-imposed exile.

She was so used to dreaming of it that she started to expect it at some point, almost like lucid dreaming, waiting for the arrow to appear, for its' landing and everyone's demise, waking her up and freeing her from the nightmarish torture.

But this time, as she watched the arrow flying towards them, something rather unexpected happened.

It never landed.

It vanished, instead, just like the battlefield she had been in.

She was surrounded by darkness.

"_Riven."_

The sound of her name startled her, for she had thought she was alone. Turning around, she realized she wasn't.

Her eternal opponent was still there.

She offered the Noxian the hint of a smile.

"_How much longer?"_ The woman asked her, her dancing blades falling slowly to the ground as she moved towards her.

Riven tried to walk backwards, but she had hit some sort of wall. "Until what?" She blurted out, her eyes scanning the other woman's face.

Then the Ionian she was up against grabbed her by the face, bringing it really close to her own before speaking once more.

"_Until you take my offer."_

* * *

She sat up immediately as she woke up.

She wasn't tired. She wasn't _that _well rested, either.

It had been weird. To see Irelia calling her out, yet being so friendly, so open, so _inviting_…

It had been weird, to say the least.

She let out a long exhale, rubbing the sleep off her eyes with her thumb and index finger.

Looking out through her bedroom's window, she noticed it was still dark.

She laid back down and stared at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn't come easy to her.

Maybe sleep wouldn't even come at all.

Upon such a realization, with a sigh, she got up.

Wandering the Temple's halls wasn't strange to Riven, let alone doing so at such hours, with the Goddess of the Night watching over her like she had been doing for an apparently quite long time.

She walked around barefooted with a robe covering her body, her limbs, protecting her from the faint breeze that was more on the chilly side as she walked seemingly aimlessly around the building, no one out to see her as she moved around the place.

_Seemingly _aimlessly but not really, for she _knew _where her feet were taking her to.

She dragged herself towards the East gate of the Temple, made her way out of it and walked for quite before taking a sharp right and navigating the forest she had gotten in, hitting a clearing after some uphill hiking, reaching a cliff that overlooked the forests near the building she was staying at, the full moon shining bright on top of her head, stars keeping her company in the sky.

She dropped to the ground and sat down, letting her legs dangle from the ledge.

She stared at the Moon, the stars, the forest underneath her, the Temple to her left, everything and nothing at the same time, before looking up at the sky once more and closing her eyes, trying to relax her body, her mind, her soul with the help of the Winter air.

It worked a bit.

_Just _a little bit.

But she hadn't gone there for that and only that.

She was waiting for someone.

So Riven did just that; wait.

Time blended into itself moving both fast and slow, the Noxian not really minding it, not really aware of how long it had been until she finally heard it: footsteps so silent they might as well never existed.

Approaching her.

"Up this late?" Asked the one behind her.

Riven smiled. "I could ask you the same thing."

Black and silver entered her peripheral vision as the Chosen of the Moon moved to her side, letting out a grunt as she took a seat next to her, "Nighttime is my prime time. It's always been." The silver haired woman reminded her as she looked at her with a teasing look, "You, on the other hand... "

"I suffer insomnia, so it's my prime time too, now." Riven shot back, a funny look on her face, a smile that grew as she saw Diana laugh.

"You're right, you're right." Diana nodded her head, "It's _our _time. Sorry for the disrespectful mistake."

"Do _not _let it happen again." Riven said in her authoritative tone, making Diana roll her eyes at her before both of them stared at the sky.

It didn't last long for Riven, though.

She allowed her crimson eyes to sway towards Diana's figure, letting herself examine her after so long without doing so. Her hair was longer than ever, if such a thing was possible, the scar on her forehead looking less like a scar and more like a tattoo she chose to sport proudly. Her face looked the same, yet both older and younger at the same time, fresher but with that look of wisdom to her eye, the silver in them shining as bright as the Moon. Even her ancient armor looked renewed in a way she couldn't quite explain, as if the silver plates had been reforged, the dark fabric underneath it, the one which served as a second skin to the armor's bearer, looking darker, smoother, newer.

Reborn. Powerfully so. Beautifully so.

"Busy night?" Riven finally asked her, earning a tired look from Diana as the Moon's Aspect nodded her head, the gleam of triumph hiding behind her pupils despite her exhaustion. "What was it this time? Terrors?"

"Yeah, Terrors." Diana confirmed, "A pack of six, south of here."

"Six?" Riven had a worried frown on her face, finding it hard to believe as Diana nodded once more. "And you managed to fight them on your own?"

"Yes." Diana said, a cocky smirk on her face. "I don't know exactly how, what or why, but ever since being reunited with Leona, I've felt faster, stronger, smarter." She shrugged, "Not that I feel godlike all the time, but I do feel really good occasionally."

Riven chuckled, "That's good, Di."

Diana nodded, "It is." Her smile was impossible to hide as she said, "I'm happy to be by her side."

"Well, you've been there for, how long now? A year?"

"And a half."

"And a half," Riven echoed, her gaze on the forest underneath their floating feet. "Enough time to get tired of her, yet here you are."

"Yet here I am." Diana repeated, staring off into the horizon just like Riven did. "I don't think I could ever get tired of her. One would think I would have gotten tired by now but I'm always craving more of her."

"And that's a wonderful thing, Di."

They enjoyed the quiet silence for a bit, sharing the Night, the view with each other, a thing that hadn't happened in a long time.

A _too _long time, Riven thought.

She missed her. She hated to admit it, but she missed her.

"I had a dream." She offered.

Then waited.

Diana looked at her, expectantly.

Said nothing.

Riven raised a brow. "What happened with _I know everything that happens at night? _In theory you should already know what I dream about, Diana."

Diana's look of curiosity faltered at that, though she smirked, "I can't be everywhere. If I'm to take care of protecting this world, I have to let go of certain responsibilities, like keeping someone's nightmares at bay."

Riven would have smiled at her teasing, but something in her failed to do so. "I noticed you were busy as soon as the nightmares came back."

Diana heard it on her voice; she was disappointed.

"I'm sorry, Riven," Diana let out, sorrow coating her features. "I just couldn't—"

"I know, I know." Riven cut her off, an apologetic look to her face, for she hadn't meant to worry the other woman. "It's alright, Di."

And the silence that they had once shared comfortably, turned awkward.

But then Diana couldn't keep quiet anymore, "I had _other _reasons to stop watching over you too, Riven…"

The Exile looked at the former Heretic with a frown on her face. "Which ones?" A certain kind of guilt took over her heart, fear of having betrayed her friend, "Have I upsetted you?"

"_No, _no, _Gods _no." Diana quickly responded, "No, I'm not necessarily _upset _about it."

_Necessarily? About it? _"But I've _done _something."

And Diana tried to keep her composure, but she couldn't help the bob of her throat, the faint blush of her cheeks as she looked away from Riven, unable to meet her eyes, the uneasiness of her voice as she said, "I might have _accidentally _seen into one of your more _private _dreams…" She cleared her throat as she heard Riven let out a quiet _Oh, no, _followed by the smack of her palm against her forehead. Daring to look at her, Diana slowly turned her head to see the Noxian hiding her face behind her hands, her _ears _red with embarrassment. "Riven, it's okay—"

"No, no it's not."

Diana swallowed, her own face as red as the Noxian's. After a minute, she heard Riven mumble something, but the sound was so muffled that she couldn't hear her. "What?"

Riven came out from behind her hands, "I asked you what you saw."

"Do I _really _need to say it?"

The question was met with nervous red eyes.

Diana gulped, "I saw enough."

"Oh, gods." Riven was shaking her head, "Diana, I'm so sorry—"

"Riven, it's _alright."_ Diana cut her off one final time. "I get it."

"Do you?" Riven questioned, "It doesn't seem right to dream like that, especially about a married—"

"_Woah, _woah." Diana started, "I'm stopping you _right _there. Don't marry me off yet."

And despite how uncomfortable she felt, how awkward the situation was, Riven chuckled, "Afraid of commitment, Diana?"

"No, but you either get the facts right or you don't get to open your big, fat mouth, Riven." Diana teased back, earning a light shove to her arm. "You can tease me about my married life once I'm actually married."

"It's not right, anyway."

"Oh come on, Riven." Diana started, more at ease than before. "Give yourself a break. After all the time we spent together and the stories between us, your subconscious was _bound_ to come up with that," A small smirk on her face as she said, "You can't control it."

And she didn't know what, exactly, in Diana's words made her think of it, her mouth letting it out before she could stop herself, "Have you dreamt of me in the same way?"

And that smirk vanished.

It was all the answer Riven needed.

Diana knew.

She looked at her own feet, hanging in the air. "Being fated to be Leona's from the very beginning, I don't think I really had much of a say on who my heart desired, let alone my brain, you know?" She laughed, "Come think of it, it might be a bit unfair for both her and I, but it's not like I can do anything about it," She shrugged, "I just got to roll with it."

"Does Leona…" Riven cleared her throat, "Does she know?"

"Not a thing." Diana confided in her, earning a surprised look from Riven. "I just don't think it's necessary for her to know."

It reminded Riven of the reasons why she had trusted Diana so quickly; the promise of her secrets being well kept, the automatic, unquestioned complicity, the hundreds of things they had in common.

And the one thing they didn't.

"I'm sorry, Di." Was all Riven responded. "I feel like I put you in a complicated situation, sometimes."

"A complicated situation?"

"With Leona."

She snorted, "How do you manage to do that?"

Riven looked bored as she responded, "Not only do I know of this place, which is, in theory, only of Leona's and your knowledge, I also happen to dream of having you in my bed."

Diana stared at her for a brief second, before sighing and looking away, trying to gather her thoughts. "What you do or stop doing in regards of me is not of Leona's concern and it _definitely _shouldn't be of her interest. She _knows _I'm hers and it's _me _who she needs to trust and not only can she do that, she also happens to actually do it." She looked at Riven, her patience shining through, "I didn't tell her about your dream because she doesn't need to know that. Not even I do and I should apologize for having seen into it, but if your concern is whether seeing that disturbed me or not, you can rest assured that it didn't." She raised her brows and looked away, "I actually must admit that I felt flattered."

Riven _knew _she had heard her right, "You what—"

"And she knows that you know about this place," Diana moved onto the next topic, "And she has nothing to say about it because she's aware of the fact that, sometimes, you need some time alone and far from everything just as badly as we do." She smiled as she placed her hand on the warrior's arm, "She understands. Don't worry."

Riven's eyes moved from silver ones, looking into the horizon, "I just have a very hard time seeing you as just a friend." And, upon saying it, having heard how it sounded like, she looked at Diana only to have the Aspect of the Moon staring back at her with wide eyes, so Riven quickly added, "And I mean that in the most platonic way possible, I _swear."_

Despite the brief confusion, Diana chuckled, "I know what you mean. You aren't exactly _just a friend _for me either."

And Diana let her have some privacy, looking away right on time, perfectly avoiding seeing the smile she knew Riven was wearing upon hearing her words.

"Well, the night might be young, but my own youth is _fleeting," _Diana concluded as she slowly stood up. "I think I'm going back to the Temple. Are you staying?"

Riven stood up too, "No, I'll go with you, but let's stay for just a minute more." She said, looking into silver eyes, "Please?"

Despite the exhaustion in her eyes, the Rakkorian smiled. "Very well," She said, before looking up at the stars, quietly admiring their beauty.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Diana looked at her, "Sure."

Riven's eyes were filled with something strong, "How does it feel like?"

Diana's head naturally lolled to a side as she raised a brow in question, "What thing?"

"To love her and have her love you back."

She hadn't expected such a question.

She kept staring at those red irises, the darkness surrounded by the bloody color.

She felt as if Riven was staring into her very soul, looking for an answer.

_Curiosity. Pure, desperate curiosity._

"It's not a thing I can easily describe. Words escape me when I try to." She said, an apology in her eyes at such an answer, sadness in her heart for she knew it was not the kind of response Riven was hoping for. "But I can tell you where I can see it. I can tell you where that feeling hides, its' shifting shape."

"And how does it look like?"

A smirk hid on her lips as she looked away. "It's hidden on the way Leona laughs around me, the crinkles that form around her eyes when she smiles, on the silly winks she'll throw at me when she thinks no one's looking, the hand that lands on my waist every time we're side by side." She let out a small chuckle, hidden on her breath, "And when it's coming out of me, it's hidden on how I can't stop staring at her when she's around me, the way my hand always finds the back of her neck and scratches the skin there, because I know she enjoys it. How I try to fight my smile when she's trying to make me laugh, only because I want her to try even harder."

She looked into Riven's eyes, "I know you can see it in my eyes right now, because even the mere memory of her evokes such a feeling. I cannot tell you how it feels because it feels too wonderful to be true; words just can't make it justice, but I can tell you how it looks and what it makes you want, what it makes you think. It makes you want to hear the other person, crave their presence, know what they feel, what they think, what's on their mind at all given times. It makes you think you could stay there with them forever and not get tired of it, for there's no greater person in the world than the one by your side at that moment." Diana shook her head, a smile on her lips as she did so. "Ineffable, but detectable. Amazing."

"You make it _sound_ amazing."

Diana offered her a sad smile. "You'll see what I'm talking about." She said, before moving closer to her, her hand moving towards the back of Riven's neck and pulling her closer, placing a kiss on the Exile's forehead. "Let's go back, shall we?"

Riven nodded, smiling at her. "Yeah, let's." She replied, following after the other woman as they started walking back.

A thought occurred to Diana, then. "You never told me what your dream was about."

"Oh, that." Riven said, her brows raised as she realized she had totally forgotten about it. "Irelia asked me when I was going to take up her offer."

Diana almost stopped walking, her head turning so fast towards the Noxian that she could have gotten whiplash. "What?"

Riven simply nodded, "I was having my usual nightmare when she stopped it, somehow." She smirked, "I'm guessing my subconscious is trying to tell me something?"

But there was a frown on Diana's features, the Empyrean completely ignoring Riven's joke. "People with unnatural abilities like you and I, we can't shrug off dreams like that one." She looked into Riven's eyes. "I'm guessing your soul is trying to tell you something."

Riven let out a mirthless chuckle. "Are you implying that I was fated to meet Irelia and hear her offer, _my Chosen?"_

Despite her friend's rather dark tease, Diana smirked. "I think it was no mere coincidence that you met and managed to befriend _me_, the Chosen of the Moon, when the one who's mercy you want happens to be a _Ionian _who follows the Moon as her deity." Her smile grew in size, "Do not underestimate the power of fate, Riven. Leona and I are proof of just how strong it can be."

Riven snorted. "Fate had nothing to do with it; you chose her on your own the first time you two met." She regarded Diana with a smart-ass' look. "You told me so."

"Yeah, but then we fell apart, did things to each other we really regret and yet here we are, loving each other despite it all." Diana said with the most monotonically bored tone she could muster. "We had all of the cards playing against us, all of the reasons not to be together and still we managed. To learn the truth, discover how things really are, see that we've always been meant to be, whatever and whichever; we managed and here we are." She stated, smirking at the annoyed look on Riven's face, for she knew the woman was right. "I'm just saying, Riven. There's no need to fear that which we don't understand, but we shouldn't underestimate it either."

Riven huffed a laugh as she shook her head, the gesture being one of endearment, with no desire to tease the Rakkorian. "Since when are you _this _wise, woman?"

Diana laughed, "Since always, but you just now started to listen."

Riven nodded her head, "I guess."

They were already by the door when Diana asked her, "Do you know if you're going to Ionia?"

And it was Riven's turn to be surprised as her brows were raised, her usually quiet demeanor making the look uncanny on her face, "I thought my decision was clear."

"Not really. What have you decided?"

Riven gulped before saying it, "I'm leaving tomorrow."

* * *

Author's Note:

We gotta start somewhere, don't we?

Cheers!


	3. Set Sail

The halls of the Temple were crowded yet quiet, for nobody dared speak a word as she made her way through them.

They were too busy admiring her as she walked.

An ebony armor protected her body, silver accents here and there, taking the edge off the darkness of the plates. Not as heavy as Leona's but not as light as Diana's, Riven's armor landed on a middle ground between them, though the style of hers resembled the Moon Champion's more. Her left hand was bare, with only her bandages covering it, the ebony plates starting on her forearm, while her right hand sported a rather big, dark gauntlet over it.

Her broken blade, its' eerie energy making it glow faintly in a green hue, sheathed to her side.

Determination on her gait, her demeanor, her body language.

Desperation in her arteries, her eyes, in the way her mouth had gone dry.

She didn't acknowledge the Empyreans who stood all around her, watching her as she made her way towards the Temple's gates, where their two leaders would be waiting, ready to bid her farewell.

Her eyes didn't even sway towards Leona, standing by the door, slightly to her right, nor to Helena, also by the door but to her left. Riven kept looking forwards.

She could only see the one who stood right on her way.

She came to a stop right before her, "Morning blessings, Diana."

She ignored the fact that Diana was armored, too.

The only one armored between the three that stood in front of her.

Despite what was about to happen, Diana smiled back at the former Noxian. "Morning blessings, Riven."

Riven's hint of a smile grew at her words, the white haired woman turning her head to Leona and nodding it once, "Morning blessings." She said, not bothering to look at Helena and do it once more, for she knew the girl was blind and had heard her greeting.

"Morning blessings," Leona replied.

"Yes, yes, morning blessings, whatever." Helena hurriedly said as she moved towards Riven, her hands landing on the woman's shoulders, making her stop walking forwards. "Riven."

Riven watched her, immobile. "Helena."

Diana already knew what Helena was going to say, "Lena—"

"_Shut up," _Helena quickly interfered, her hand perfectly landing on Diana's cheek in a quick, harmless slap, "I'm doing the talking now."

"Okay, how in the Void did you manage to know where to hit?" Leona quickly questioned, both amazed and terrified at her lover's best friend.

Helena didn't even bother turning her head at the sound, "I've had years upon years of training in the art of slapping imbeciles, Leona. I've mastered the skill." Without warning, she took a quick step towards the Sun's Warrior, hitting her cheek just as flawlessly as she had done with Diana. "See? A honed ability of mine. Now let me speak."

Leona gasped, "That could be considered heresy!" She said in a joking tone.

But Helena still glared in her direction, "I swear to the Sun and the Moon, Leona, I'm _not_ in the mood for it right now."

The former Ra-Horak gulped. "Okay," she mumbled, letting the Priestess win.

As Helena stood right in front of Riven, placing both of her hands on the woman's shoulders, the Noxian had to hide her smile, even bite her lip so as to prevent it from escaping; Noxians were programmed to admire strength and if there was something that Helena had in excess was exactly that.

Strength. Not of body, but of mind. Of will.

Of soul.

She could admire that.

"You're about to go to far away lands for a reason only _you _know, because Diana is the worst best friend a curious girl could ever have and refuses to tell me your secrets." She raised a brow, then, "Or maybe she replaced me and now _you _are her best friend, which means I will have to eliminate you, eventually, and kill Diana afterwards for her betrayal." She let out a quick _Shhh _at the sound of Diana's complaint upon hearing her words.

Helena sighed, "I don't really know a lot about you, Riven, except for a few things that are somewhat associated to that name of yours. Even then, I don't care for such stories, for they do not reflect who you _want _to be." Blank eyes somehow managed to aim at bloody ones, the feeling it brought with it making Riven gulp. "So we're basically two strangers, standing in front of each other. One with, I've been told, white hair, and the other with white eyes."

A sad smile planted itself on her lips. "Maybe it's too much to ask of you. Maybe it's not even close to being enough. I will never really know. Right now, I'm putting any hopes I have of recovering my sight on someone I _don't even know, _all hopes of fixing all the damage done to my mind throughout years, too_._" She put her hands on Riven's cheeks, "I've been told a Celestial with healing powers hides in Ionia. My best friend and her idiot girlfriend can't go look for her themselves because they've proved themselves unworthy of stepping on Ionian lands again, but _you _are a whole other story."

A very much alive plea hid behind dead pupils. "I don't need my sight anymore, but the idea of being free of this never ending darkness is very appealing, let alone clearing the eternal fog that hides on my brain. If you could do me such a favor, bring that Celestial to me, I'd forever be in your debt."

Then Riven's hands were on hers, gently guiding them down. Helena frowned at the feeling of cold armor on one, handwraps on the other, her fingers exposed. "Maybe, you could heal yourself too," She let out as she felt the burnt skin, then locked her eyes on Riven's, an eerie feeling taking over as she smiled and, on a soft voice, said, "Though it's been whispered into my ear that the healing that you need to do is of another nature."

Riven quickly brought her hands back, releasing them from Helena's, staring as her smirk slowly became subtler.

Helena chuckled. "I have to leave, but please, consider doing me this favor, Riven." She bowed her head, "Safe travels, from me, Fay and the others."

Despite the ominous feeling that had taken over, Riven bowed, "Thank you, High Priestess. Thank Fay and the rest for their wishes, too."

And just like that, Helena slowly walked away, Riven looking at her as she did so.

"I'm sorry for that," Diana said when she was gone, making the Noxian turn to look at her. "I understand that whenever our Goddesses talk to her, she gets all…" She trailed off as she looked for a word.

"Creepy." Leona offered. "Very creepy."

"_Creepy," _Diana repeated, "Thank you."

"Not a problem."

Riven shrugged, "It wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened to me in my life. Don't worry about it."

The Chosen of the Moon smiled. "Why don't we take this outside?" Diana asked her.

"Good idea," Leona answered for her, a lazy smile on her lips. She opened the gates for them, "I'll catch up with you in a minute," She told them, letting Diana walk out, Riven following her.

A carriage was already waiting for her, young stallions on the front and a Ra-Horak getting them ready to set off.

"Are you ready for the trip?" Diana asked her as they watched her driver make the final preparations.

"Do you want me to be honest or to lie?" Riven quickly asked back, watching Diana as the Chosen raised a brow before letting out a quick, _Honesty, _"Not ready. At all." Riven said, a nervous chuckle coming out of her as she said so, "I hope I feel at least a bit more prepared on my days traveling to Ionia, but I don't think that will be the case."

Diana laughed, "You're tough, Riven. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"May I ask you why you're all geared up?" Riven blurted out, not being able to handle it anymore.

There was a certain sadness to the other woman's eyes. "Considering you're asking, I'm guessing you don't need a partner in your travels?"

Riven came to stood in front of Diana, "As much as it pains me to say so, I think this is a journey that I must travel on my own, Di."

But Diana had been prepared for it, evident in the smile on her lips, despite the crestfallen demeanor. "I feared you'd say that, which is why I brought you this."

Riven watched as Diana took off a small silver chain from around her neck, perfectly hidden by her armor. She offered it to the Noxian, who took it between her hands and examined it with a frown on her face; simple enough, the thin, silver chain had a small charm of the same color hanging from it.

"A Lunari charm?" Riven questioned, raising a brow as she glanced at Diana, momentarily.

"It's the Moon's symbol. Us Empyreans display it fused with the Sun's, but there was, indeed, a cult that used it to represent themselves. The Lunari don't exist anymore, but the Moon still rises." Diana casually said, smirking at Riven's raised brow.

But then she wasn't as playful, getting serious all of a sudden, her hands bringing Riven's together, the necklace caught between them. "I want you to wear it, so that you remember you might be traveling alone, but you're not on your own, for I'll always be with you, by your side." A hint of a smirk, "Around your neck."

"Like a noose."

Diana shoved her, but grinned at the laugh that escaped the Noxian.

Then they calmed down and she continued talking, "And if you ever feel like there's a burden in your chest, a victory you want to celebrate… Whatever reason it may be, I want you to pray." She said, a plea in her eyes. "Pray, whatever you want to tell me, kneel at night and pray to the Moon and I promise you I'll be listening." Then something a bit more intense, darker, even, took a hold of her as she added, "And if you ever need my help, call my name at any time of day, beg for me and I swear to my Goddesses that I'll be there in the blink of an eye and I'll hunt your enemies down like a demon let loose."

Riven laughed at that, "A bit too much, don't you think?"

Diana's expression turned to a scowl, "Never enough," She said, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips, before laughing along with Riven. "But I must admit that I hope you never have the need to request my aid like that."

"Not to be rude, but I hope the same thing."

There was a smile on Diana's lips, "I don't think you'll need it, anyway."

And maybe it had been the tenderness on her voice, maybe it had been the simple fact that she could smile at the Noxian that easily, Riven wasn't sure, but didn't question it either as she felt an impulse and let herself follow through with it, crushing her in a tight embrace, her face against the Empyrean's neck, as if hiding from the World, its' duties and obligations.

"Thank you for being my friend when I needed you the most."

Diana's arms snaked around her frame as she returned the embrace, bringing her impossibly close. "I'm going to miss you," She whispered back, the sound watery with the sadness she felt due to her friend's departure.

"I already do," Riven confessed, pulling back with a smile, her hands quickly cupping Diana's face, her thumbs brushing away her tears, "Don't cry or you'll make me do the same," Came the warning.

Despite the tear tracks on her face, Diana chuckled, "Too late. There's more from where those came from."

Riven chuckled, well aware that her eyes were glassy, too.

One of Diana's hands came up and met with Riven's, gently grabbing the necklace that hung from it. "Let me put this on you," She commanded, making Riven let go of the silver chain, bowing to let the Chosen of the Moon put it around her neck. "There we go," She mumbled, watching as Riven came up once more.

"Well," They heard Leona say as she approached them. "Time to go, Riven." She said, her eyes going from one girl to the other, a fond smile on her lips and, to Riven's quiet surprise, pain in her eyes, too. "Have you two finished saying your goodbyes?"

Diana nodded, but Riven calmly brought her hands to the silver haired woman's face once more, bringing her closer and planting a kiss on her cheek, making her smile. "You're not coming to the carriage to bid me farewell?" The Noxian shot.

Diana shook her head. "Hell, no. I will cry harder."

"I'll do it for her," Leona said, looking at Riven with that warmth that was so characteristic of her.

They slowly walked towards the carriage, leaving Diana behind. Riven could feel Leona's eyes on her, "Are you afraid?" She heard her ask once Diana was out of earshot.

Riven felt as if her heart would best its' way out of her chest with how quickly and strongly it was beating. "I must be."

"Good." Leona said, earning an inquisitive look from the Noxian at her one-word statement. She smirked at her, "It means you're not stupid."

Despite the certain darkness that could be perceived from her words, Riven laughed before shrugging, "I don't really know where I'm going to with this, but I'm going anyways."

"Whether Irelia asked for your presence just to slap you or to sing your praises, you don't really have a choice," Leona said, "You _must _go. Your soul needs the closure that only her can provide." She watched her as the warrior nodded her head, "But besides duty and fear, how do you feel about leaving?"

"Sad. Very sad. Specially now after seeing Diana's reaction."

"Well, you're very special for her." Leona told her as they neared the carriage. "And I must say, I'll miss you too, Riven."

The Noxian couldn't help the surprise on her features as she looked at Leona, "I didn't think you thought of me so dearly."

"Well, it goes to show that, in a year and a half living together, you have learned nothing about me." Leona said, hiding her faint disappointment but her honesty making it hard for it not to shine through at least a bit, "You did more for me than I'll ever even know and I'll forever be grateful for that and for _you, _Riven," Then, a smirk on her face as she added, "Even if you dream of bedding my lover."

Riven's face automatically turned red, her eyes open wide. "How do you—" She quickly turned to look at the driver, who seemed to be too busy to really pay them any mind, before looking back at Leona, "_Did Diana tell you!?" _She asked in a hurried whisper.

"I don't need her to tell me when your room is so close to ours," Leona responded lowly, too, "All I had to do was walk past your door and I'd hear you _moaning _her name." She raised a brow, "Why do you think I never questioned why you wanted to change rooms and go to one a little bit further away from ours?" Riven was shaking her head, not really sure of what to say, but Leona saved her the trouble, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Relax, it's okay. I mean, _I get it," _She looked at Diana from where she stood, longing evident in her eyes. "I love her for who she is, but the _physical _aspect of the relationship is also very well covered."

"Yeah, I know," Riven shot back, an awkward, exaggerated smile on her face at Leona's inquisitive look as she said, "Our rooms were really close, remember?"

It was Leona's turn to blush, though she wore it with pride and a grin on her lips. "I will not apologize. I do what I must."

Riven laughed, shaking her head. "You're incorregible."

"Says you."

And there was a smile on the Noxian's face. "I'm going to miss you."

Leona quickly hugged her, catching her off guard, "I'll miss you too." She said, before letting go, "Take care of yourself out there, will you?"

Riven nodded her head, "Will do."

So Leona watched her as she entered the carriage and the driver manipulated the reins, the horses slowly starting their journey.

Riven looked through the back window of the coach, watching as Leona walked towards Diana and, together, waved her off, Leona with a knowing look to her face, Diana with tears in her eyes and a grin on her lips.

Riven waved back and, once they weren't visible anymore, she got comfortable, letting out a shaky breath from between her lips.

It was going to be a long trip.

* * *

_Diana._

_I don't know if you can hear me. Consider tonight's prayers a test._

_We're still on the road. I'm on my seat, my eyes closed, my hands clasped around the charm you gave me. I'm concentrating really hard, so this had better work or else we're going to have a problem, the whole praying thing and I._

_We stopped for a bit in the west side of Shurima to rest, but the driver is hellbent on getting me there as soon as possible, so we're already on the road. We must be halfway through Shurima, already._

_Not that I'm not okay with it. On the contrary, I really appreciate his eagerness to get me there. I want to get this done with so I can go back to Leona and you. Being alone in between this four walls and atop these four wheels for so many hours has made me realize that I, indeed, want to be part of the Bloodmoon. Maybe even the Ra-Horak. Maybe._

_Don't tell Leona I said that._

_Now, I'm realizing my eyelids are heavy and it feels very good to keep my eyes closed, so it must mean I'm tired. I'll try to keep you updated about my whereabouts and other things like that._

_I miss you, but I think this is necessary for me to heal._

_I'll call it a night, now. I'll _talk _to you tomorrow._

* * *

_Diana._

_We're already out of Shurima._

_Making our way through the forest east of it, now._

_Did you know there are… _shapeshifters _in the woods?_

_I _swear _I saw a woman turn into a cougar. I also saw a very colorful being which I would have liked, were it not for the fact that she took one look at me and somehow _stole _my appearance._

_I hope this doesn't present a problem in the future. To a lot of people, I'm still dead. It _would _be funny to see them look into a ghost's eyes, though._

_I wonder if you've crossed paths with any of them before. I wonder if the identity thief has stolen your appearance, too._

_Leona would be delighted. You, on the other hand, I know you'd be pissed._

_I'm tired, I'll pray some more tomorrow._

* * *

"My lady, we've arrived at Mudtown."

Riven woke up at the sound of the driver's voice, somewhat taken aback by being called a _lady. _Still, she got out of the carriage, since he seemed to want her to do so.

They were in a very small village right next to the continent's northwest end, a small wooden dock built by the shore with a few boats tied to it, the Guardian's Sea extending into the horizon.

"This is where _my _journey ends," The driver told her before pointing at a man who was idly standing by the docks, "That man over there will take you to Ionia from here. I shall return home to Targon."

Riven nodded her head, "Very well," She patted her driver on the back, "Thank you, safe travels."

"Good luck on where your travels take you to."

And just like that, he got in the carriage and left Riven behind.

The Noxian slowly walked towards the docks in the small, humble town, ignoring the furtive glances that she knew she was on the receiving end of. Being the only one so heavily armored, she was bound to be the most precious thing wandering eyes would land on and latch onto, staring at her, making her feel in her very core that they could look into her soul, know which her place of birth actually was, nevermind the fact that, with such a Targonian armor, she looked like a Rakkor, maybe even the Chosen of the Moon herself.

_No._

And in those lands, nobody liked Noxus.

_But does anyone, anywhere, like Noxus?_

She didn't think so.

She approached the man by the docks, "Good evening," She called out, making him turn to look at her, careful enough to hide her accent.

A man who looked to be around his forties stared back, black eyes and black hair, a scar on his lip and a captain's clothes on his body, as stained and broken as a pirate's, as bougie yet worn out as a former, prestigious sailor's.

Despite his slovenly looks, he smiled at her. "You must be the Empyrean I've been paid to take to Ionia."

_He doesn't know my name._

Riven nodded her head and offered him her hand, "My name's Helena," She lied, protecting her identity from anyone who might be listening, not wishing to let anybody else know that Riven, the former Hand of Noxus, was still very much alive and was now an _Empyrean._

The captain took her hand and gave it one firm shake. "I'm Captain Leith. Follow me." He motioned for her as he turned around and walked through the docks, Riven following closely behind.

Leith took her to a medium sized ship, big enough not to be a boat but small enough to sail by unnoticed, the name _Nereus _written on its' stern, its' sails a pristine white, the ship looking perfectly, squeaky clean, a stark contrast to its' owner. "We will set sail through the Guardian Sea to Ionia's southern naval entry. We will sail as fast as possible, because the trip should be easy, but sailing between Noxus and Bilgewater, one never knows what they may find."

Riven nodded. "I think it's a good idea."

Then, Leith was looking at her with narrow, calculating eyes. "Do I have to smuggle you in?"

"What?" She asked instinctively, "No. I'm expected."

The captain nodded, "Okay, good. Just making sure." He got on the ship, "All aboard, right foot first." He said to Riven in a lighthearted manner, his smile growing in size as he saw her fulfill his demand.

As he got ready to depart, Riven helped him undock the ship, untying the ropes that kept it by the shore. "So, the trip's already been paid for?"

Leith nodded as he coiled the lines, "A lady with long hair, color much like yours, a mark on her forehead." He recalled vaguely. "She paid, one way to Ionia, then said a woman with red eyes would be taking it, that she'd arrive a few days later." He smiled at Riven as he set the lines on the ship's deck, "Then you waltz in with those bloody eyes, it wasn't hard for me to tell it was you."

Riven chuckled, "Not many with red eyes out there." She casually let out, her mind already somewhere else.

"Not really." He replied, before opening up the sails, "I hope you're ready to go." He said as the ship slowly moved away from the shore.

Riven watched as the land slowly moved away, the ship being completely surrounded by water. "I am."

* * *

_Diana._

_The night I told you about me leaving Targon the following day. You came to Mudtown and already left everything prepared, didn't you? What happened with _My youth is fleeting and I want to sleep? _Clearly, you forgot about it as you snuck out again before the night was done._

_Thank you. I insist on the fact that you're the friend I've always needed._

_I miss you._

* * *

_I'm going to have the _worst _disembarkment syndrome._

_The sailing is tranquil enough, but not smooth at all. Too many waves._

_I hope we arrive soon._

_I think I can see land already, very far away though._

* * *

There were way _too many _soldiers at the docks for Leith to feel comfortable. Ionians weren't too fond of foreigners after the Noxian Invasion and the Empyrean incident.

"Identification and motive of visit, Captain?" One of them asked him.

"Captain Leith," He told them, "And I'm in Ionia only for a few minutes, Sir. I came here just to bring a woman to these lands and then I'm gone." He said, his eyes moving towards Riven as the warrior came out of her cabin, her eyes landing on the soldiers.

The soldiers automatically aimed their bows at her, ready to shoot.

Even Leith flinched.

Riven smiled at them all, "I missed you all, too."

"Guards! Stand down. It's alright."

Her breath hitched at the sound of that voice.

"She's my personal guest."

She watched as Irelia suddenly came to view, standing behind those guards, their bowstrings not as tense as they stopped taking aim at her, though they still watched her warily.

The Captain of the Guard watched the Noxian as she thanked Leith for his services, before getting out of the ship, slowly making her way towards her, the guards opening up as she made her way through and the ship sailed away.

Irelia nodded her head a bit, "Hello, Riven."

Riven mimicked her, only more profusely. "Irelia."

"I see you finally decided to come back." Turning around before she could respond, the Captain moved towards the gates that led Ionia. "Follow me."

So, trailing behind her like a lost dog, Riven entered the country.

The woman of her nightmares and dreams guiding her through it.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hi y'all, enjoying the weather?


	4. Give Answers, Ask Questions

"How was the trip?"

Riven snapped out of the quiet trance she had fallen into at the sound of Irelia's voice, her eyes wandering the Placidium as they entered it, the whole way there being dead silent as Irelia marched and she followed, her ungloved hand clenched around her necklace.

"Uneventful enough." Riven responded absentmindedly as she looked around, the building being the same one it had been the last time, but somehow looking slightly different, as if it were a replica, only looked at from a minimally dissimilar point of view. "Definitely more uneventful than our walk here."

"With the Lunar Revel festivities being over for the year, people leave the blissful ignorance of celebration behind, their memories working a bit better than usual." She glanced at Riven over her shoulder, "Those who know what your name is fear you and those who don't know a thing about you are wary of foreigners." She shrugged, "It's not personal, but after having our lands attacked twice already, last time with both Rakkorians and Demacians added to the equation…"

"I can understand." Riven concluded. "I didn't really care for the unwanted attention."

"That's good," Irelia responded as she looked forwards, easily navigating the Placidium's corridors, before coming to a stop in front of a wooden door. Pushing it open, she ushered Riven inside.

The Noxian studied what seemed to be Irelia's office. A big room, shelves stacked with books upon books decorated the wall to her right, a big desk right in front of it, a chair giving it its' back, looking at the opposite wall, maps and scrolls and papers and books all over the desktop. A picture of her with her parents and her brother hung from the one at the far end, the strongest family in all of Ionia, in all of their splendor, right above a wide window that went from one wall to the other, the country on display on the other side of it. On the wall to her left, a fireplace stood, the logs on it still burning, two settees flanking it, diagonally confronted. Warm, toned down reds and browns all over the room, the flame that still remained highlighting the colors.

"Leaving a fire unattended like that can be dangerous," Riven mused out loud.

"I wasn't gone for long," Irelia responded, entering the office and closing the door behind her, "Come," She said, walking towards the sofas, sitting on the one further from the door, her eyes following Riven while she walked to the one opposite to hers.

"How come you were at the docks today, then?" She asked as she sat down.

"See the window behind me?" Irelia asked her, her eyes never leaving red ones. When Riven looked at it and nodded, she added, "I can see the southern docks from here." The Captain relaxed onto her seat, looking at the fire that still burned.

Riven's eyes were still on the window, "It still doesn't explain—"

"Ever since I heard the news of the Solari and Lunari being disbanded, the Chosen of the Sun and the Chosen of the Moon finally being united under the same banner, I've awaited your return." Irelia said, her hands clasped right in front of her face, a frown on her young features. "Every time I saw a ship approach those docks from this window, I'd go there and receive the travelers myself." She closed her eyes, "I always hoped it was you but for a long time it wasn't." She opened her eyes, now locked on red ones, "Until today, which begs the question," She leaned forwards, resting her forearms on her legs as she stared intensely at Riven, "What made you finally come to Ionia, Riven?"

She wasn't certain whether Irelia knew just how much weight the information she had just given up so freely had. Anyone could have ignored it, but Riven couldn't: Irelia had, for a year and a half, abandoned every and any task that was at her hand at the moment she saw a ship approaching Ionia, only to walk down the steps towards the docks and receive who she had always hoped was Riven, only to be proven wrong, go back to the Placidium and resume her doings, waiting for the process to be repeated once more whenever another ship came.

Riven stared into those cold, blue eyes, the broken Exile with her pieces somewhat put together by the Moon gone for a minute, the old Leader of the Noxian troops resurfacing for a minute, if only for her to use her strategist's mind, trying to figure out Irelia, her expressions, her demeanor, her _nature, _trying to see more in what she was looking at.

Read her enemy and see what she'd let on without even knowing.

Irelia stared back, her breathing relaxed, a collected demeanor, her game face on.

She _knew _Riven was trying to read her.

It was not an uneven match: The ghost of the Hand of Noxus was staring into the very alive eyes of the Ionian Captain of the Guard.

Same roles, different lands.

Only Irelia was the unofficial Ruler of Ionia, too. Certainly, not an easy title to earn.

_Maybe it _is _an unfair match._

_For me._

But a thing was true; no matter how important Irelia deemed the information she had given her, it was information that Riven knew to be _true _and that she had _asked _for_. _She decided it was only fair that she returned the favor.

_A game of questions and answers, like before._

_And now it's my turn._

"I was comfortable where I was." Riven began, looking away from the Captain, her eyes glued to the dancing flames. "Living in Targon, serving the Empyreans as Diana's—"

"Pet?"

"Right hand," Riven continued, instinctively glaring at Irelia, even as the Captain formed a small _Oh _with her mouth.

"I must admit your relationship with Diana has been the topic of many rumours around here." Irelia said with a sly smirk on her lips as she relaxed onto her seat. "A Noxian waltzes in with the Chosen of the Moon pretty much by her side and said Celestial protects her basically with her life? _Quite interesting."_

It dawned on Riven that the Ionian Leader was taunting her.

"My relationship with Diana is one of friendship." Riven said, her eyes closed so as to shut out the Ionian's cocky expression. "If you're looking for something _else, _try asking Leona about it."

Irelia raised a brow, "The Chosen of the Sun _and _the Chosen of the Moon, together?" She asked, "Who would have thought about it, right?"

The sarcasm in her voice did not go unnoticed, but Riven still gave no response to it, disregarding it completely. "In Targon I wasn't the Exiled Noxian, but Diana's right hand. A friend, someone who they all could rely on." Riven picked up the topic once more, her eyes opening to land on the fire again. "I grew comfortable there, learning with them, training with them, helping them out and letting them help me sometimes. Still, at night, it was the same dream, over and over again."

She felt the change in Irelia's demeanor, the arrogance gone, only to show a deadly seriousness.

Riven laid back on her seat, looking at Irelia dead in the eyes, "Me, fighting against you, the blood of both your compatriots and mine all over the place. In my dream, I can't really see the Crimson Elite nor the Ionians who fought by your side, I can only see you and feel my desire to kill you, though a side of me wishes I didn't have to." She shook her head and looked away, "It's hard to explain. In any case, the dream is always the same; we fight until that arrow appears on the sky before landing and finishing it all, waking me up in the process."

Riven moved her head a bit, cracking her neck as she did so, sighing at the tension released. "But last time I had that dream, the ending was different. You see, I don't know how nor why, but somehow you managed to stop that arrow from landing." She looked into those blue eyes once more, "I know it was you." She blinked hard, "Somehow, the arrow, the scenery itself disappeared and it was only you and I. Then, you asked me how long until I took your offer." The intensity that had lived in her eyes vanished, "So, when I woke up, I decided it was time."

Irelia raised a brow. "All because of a dream that didn't go as you expected it?"

"Someone told me not to underestimate what our souls try to tell us. I think mine was telling me it was time I came here."

"Who told you that?"

She had given her enough truths, already, so Riven shrugged. "Someone." She offered, trying not to smirk at the small failure in Irelia's perfect composure, the look of irritation being visible, if only for a split second.

So, seeing her chance, she took it.

"Why would you like to know that?" She asked innocently enough, considering it was _her _turn in the game to ask questions and receive answers, leaning forwards just like Irelia did.

Then she recalled something she had heard Diana say to some Ionian guard a long time ago, something regarding Irelia's dreams.

"Is it that, maybe, we've been having the same kind of dreams, Irelia?"

She watched as the Ionian's eyes roamed her figure, moving from those crimson irises, examining her body, her armor, the gauntlet on her right hand and the bandages on her left, the blade that remained on her side.

"I see you left your rags behind. You're all dressed up, now." Irelia casually noted, choosing not to answer Riven's question.

Riven inspected herself, "Yeah, that I did." She said, before looking at Irelia once more. "After a while with the Rakkor, I reached the conclusion that, for me to let go of my past, I had to let go of everything that tied me to it; material and not."

"Seems some things are harder to let go of than others, aren't they?"

Riven didn't need to follow her eyes to know she was looking at her blade, nevermind the spiritual burden, the demons that tried to haunt her into an early grave. "I can let go of my rags, my title, my nationality, my fame, my memories, everything and anything, but I can't let go of my sword."

Irelia's head lolled to a side. "Too proud to let it go?"

"This blade is the source of my power, my strength, what made me and _still _makes me—"

"Riven, the Queen of the Noxian troops." Irelia said, her gaze burning holes into Riven's own eyes.

It was a slap to the face.

Still, Riven tried, "Without it, I'm not—"

"A true Noxian," Irelia finished for her, that arrogant look back on her face as she smirked, laying back on her seat, "More specifically, the Hand of Noxus herself."

Riven stared at her, this time being her the unreadable one.

Irelia held it for a second, before raising a brow, "Doesn't affect you, I see?"

Riven smirked back at her, "Not like it used to."

"You're a walking contradiction, Riven." Irelia said to her. "You say you want to let go of your past, yet you don't abandon the one thing that made you who you were." She raised her brows, "The one thing that _still _makes you who you are."

Riven shook her head, "It doesn't—"

"But it _does, _you see," Irelia said, hunching forwards again. "I recognized you _only _because of that blade, so long ago, when you first came here with the Empyreans. Not only do you choose not to let go of it, you _still _allow it to be your brand, to define you."

Riven closed her eyes, letting out a long exhale, "I don't—"

"And even then," Irelia continued, disregarding her completely. "I don't think your solution is the best. _Letting go _of your past by, what, burying it? Abandoning it?"

"It's better than _your _way of solving the same problem, Irelia."

Irelia's cocky air was suddenly gone, Riven finally biting back, Noxian teeth bared against so much barking by the Ionian.

Riven stared at her with a faint frown to her features, her eyes roaming the Captain's figure, studying that clothing of hers that looked nothing like armor yet served her efficiently enough. "I acknowledge I've got a problem in between my hands and, despite it not being the best answer, I try to solve it, somehow. You, on the other hand, ignore it completely and go as far as pretending there is no problem whatsoever. Tell me, Captain, if ignorance is bliss and you're blissfully ignorant while I just wish I were, between you and I," She looked into Irelia's blue eyes, "Who's the real fool?"

It had been a perfect riposte.

"I never called you a fool."

"Not directly, unlike I just did with you."

Another thrust to Irelia's chest.

Riven didn't dare think of it, for she knew her mind would scream at her how bad of an idea taunting the Ionian Captain was.

Irelia watched her in silence, no emotion on her face.

"Your chambers are located at the west wing of the Placidium," She suddenly said, "Along with the rest of the royal guard's soldiers. You'll sleep, wake, eat and train with them. If I hear a word of you causing trouble, you're out." She stood up and slowly made her way towards the door, but stopped abruptly. "Oh, I almost forget."

Riven watched as Irelia quickly walked up to her and, without any kind of warning whatsoever, slapped her across the face, her open palm connecting with Riven's cheek with a loud clapping sound.

"I don't know how things are done in Noxus nor Targon but over here, Riven, we try not to talk about things we know nothing about, specially if we don't even try to get informed about them before." Irelia let out in a low, growling voice at the Noxian's face. "So you'd best stop talking shit, unless you want to keep on being hit."

Then the ruthless Captain straightened up and moved towards the door once more—

"Why did you tell me to come back here?"

Irelia stared at the wooden door for a second.

"I don't know."

Riven heard the door close with a loud bang behind her.

* * *

_Diana._

_I have no clue whether praying during the day will make my thoughts be heard by Leona instead or not. In any case, I have a message for her, if you could deliver it._

_Tell her that between the two motives she speculated Irelia could have to ask for my return, the former was the right one._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

School is kicking my ass but I will still try to deliver.

How are y'all? and how are y'all liking the fic thus far? leave me ur thoughts!


	5. Comes Around, Goes Around

The guards that escorted her to the Placidium's west wing did not question the red mark that was still imprinted on her face.

They walked through the palace in silence, not even looking at her as they guided the Noxian throughout the halls, darkness taking over the skies outside.

They all stepped aside as they came to a stop in front of a wooden door, which Riven moved towards to push open.

The room was big but not very colorful in any way, with only six bunk beds distributed in its' space.

Eleven roommates that stared at her as she walked in.

_Glared. _That _glared _at her as she walked in.

_Great._

Two rooms of twelve soldiers each. Riven had known that much.

She hadn't expected to be part of those twenty-four soldiers. She had imagined she'd be an accidental addition, not an actual part of the equation.

With her own room, not a shared one.

And shared with eleven other people, nonetheless.

_Fun._

She made her way through the room slowly, not even blinking as the door was shut closed. Everyone in it was staring at her, protectively moving near their own beds, as if marking territory.

It made it easier for her to identify the one bunk that still had one free spot.

She walked towards it, looking at both beds and realizing with no short amount of annoyance the one on top was taken, fresh clothes already waiting for her on top of the one below the one she actually wanted.

"Which one."

She turned to her right at the sound of a somehow brash yet weak voice, as unpleasant as cracking knuckles, as if whoever owned it was still going through puberty, their vocal cords still adapting to the changes.

She came face to face with a surprisingly tall, lanky boy, definitely not older than her, his skin a few shades darker than hers, with brown eyes and hair, who stared into her red eyes with a disturbing intensity.

She frowned, "Huh?"

He closed his eyes as he gulped once, before opening them again, that eerie stare back in place as he repeated, "Which bed do you want." With that broken, shifting voice of his, not even intoning the phrase as a question.

He had vestiges of an accent she recognized, the clues being so few, so vague that she couldn't pinpoint exactly where from,but still being present enough she could tell he was not Ionian by birth.

Riven didn't smirk, didn't make a face as she said, "The top one."

Upon hearing her, the boy turned to the top bed, taking his stuff from it and throwing it all on the bed underneath it, not before taking what appeared to be Riven's new clothes from the unused bed, carefully placing them on the one that used to be his.

The Noxian unstrapped her sword from her side and placed it on the bed, the piece of broken blade she wielded being still hidden inside the peculiar scabbard she had been gifted with in Targon.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her, even her bunk partner's as he laid on his bed, while she carefully, slowly started to manipulate her armor's straps, unlocking them.

"There's a chest at the end of the bunk for you to put your stuff." Her partner quickly informed her as he took notice of the calculating look in her eye as she wondered where she'd place her belongings. "The one on the other end of it is mine."

Riven glanced at him for a brief moment, nodding her head once, before starting to remove her armor, gently laying it inside the chest.

Her blade remained on her bed, though.

She was only in her undergarments, her hands still bandaged, making a quick inspection of the simple-looking Ionian robes as she felt some shuffling going on behind her back.

"You're not welcome here."

She stopped what she was doing.

Even the air appeared to go still.

Riven looked over her shoulder.

All of her other roommates were standing there, glaring at her.

"I'm not welcome?"

"No, you're not."

She raised a brow, her face going back to neutral as she turned and looked at the man who had talked, "Says who?"

The bull-necked man bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring as he took a few stomping steps towards her, Riven not flinching nor backing down, not even blinking as he came face to face with her, being half a head taller.

"We don't like your kind around here, so you'd better give it up soon and leave, _Noxian."_

The word had been said with such disgust, as if it stained his tongue on its' way out through his mouth, that Riven couldn't help the amusement she felt at it, a small smirk tugging at her lip in what appeared to be a quick twitch of the corner of her mouth.

"My _kind _you say, as if we weren't both humans, you and I."

"You're not a human," She heard a woman say from somewhere behind the muscle-bound man she had in front of her, "You might be a ghost, a demon, whatever, but not human. At all."

"You should have died in that war." Someone else said, an accusatory tone of sorts on his voice. "No one should be able to survive what you did."

"That's clearly necromancy of sorts. Blood magic." A third voice chimed in.

"According to all of your claims," Riven started, her red eyes still glued to the bouldering man's dark ones, "Irelia should be dead, too."

The bull she had in front of her took even one step closer, sharing breaths with her as he muttered a low, "Do _not _bring our Captain into this."

Despite the threatening tone, Riven didn't back off, a smile slowly growing on her lips as she said, "Maybe we're _both _demons, your _Captain_ and I."

The man suddenly pushed her against the bed, holding her in place by her shoulders, a sneer on his face as he said, "Listen to me, you fucking shithead," He growled, growing angrier by the second as Riven's expression remained completely calm, neutral, "I don't care if the war didn't kill you, because I'll gladly kill you in _here._" He said, an unnatural viciousness to his demeanor, "You won't survive the training. I'll make sure of that."

Riven didn't care for his words. "Save a bit of breath, saliva and nonsense for tomorrow, brute," She told him, as calm as ever, "Or you'll run out of idle barking really soon, earlier into the training than you'd like."

The man pulled away for a second, his eyes darting to the Ionian who laid on the bed below hers, before huffing a laugh, "Placed with the rookie, close to the door for when you two want to run like the cowards you are." He looked at Riven once more, spitting on her face, "Early start tomorrow, Noxian."

Riven looked at him, not even wiping her face yet, not even blinking as she raised a brow, "Are you done or are you going to keep me here for longer?"

He released her and moved towards his bunk, the tension that had taken over the scenario slowly dissipating as everyone went to their own beds.

Riven climbed into hers, turning her back to the Ionians as she wiped her face with her hand.

She really didn't care for it. She had gotten used to the Rakkorian's gentle nature, loving it immediately from the get go, but she had never forgotten what the Noxian barracks were like; definitely far worse than whatever those wimps could throw at her, she knew.

That's why she could remain so calm, so collected: because she had lived through things that were Hell compared to what she was experiencing at the moment.

Still, it would take some getting used to it, some desintoxication from the addicting Targonian ways for her to really adapt to the soldier's life once more.

The _Noxian _soldier's life, for it was the only one she knew, no matter how awful it was and how badly she wanted to stay away from it.

Because she'd do whatever Irelia apparently wanted her to do, but she'd do it the way she knew. On her own terms.

She'd adapt. She'd survive.

She'd _win._

And she'd back those who deserve it, bringing down those who don't.

Starting with the bull man.

* * *

It took her too long to fall asleep that night.

Riven had some sort of habit, an ability, maybe, that didn't allow her to sleep whenever there was a threat nearby her.

It had been an hour or two into the night before such threat was gone, the glaring eyes of her roommates finally leaving her alone, the woman finally being able to sleep.

She woke up as they did, though, for the cycle repeated itself, their glaring eyes disturbing her peace.

Twilight's first moments in the sky were on display by the time they got up. Riven quickly jumped out of her bed and got dressed, the Ionian robes she had been given fitting her just right, as if they had been made for her.

She subtly watched what the other Ionians were doing as they tidied up their beds, quietly doing so herself, realizing she'd have to abide by the Ionian way of life and its' rules if she was to stay.

She noticed they stood in attention by their bunks and she followed through with it, standing side by side with the lanky rookie, shoulders squared and chin up.

The door to her dorm was opened suddenly, a man and a woman walking in, their more adorned clothing showing off the fact that they were higher ups in the royal guard's ranks. Both blond with hazel eyes, the man more built than the woman, yet both looking strong, not in an unmeasured, monstrous way like the man who had confronted her the night before, though; they had a warrior's body, hard yet flexible, all hidden underneath their nonsensical prestige and layers of clothing.

"Good morning, newbies." The man said, making his way in before the woman did. "I see you're all acquainted, now." He added upon sighting Riven, before making his way from her bunk bed, the closest one to the door, towards the other end of the room, while his colleague, apparently his twin sister, for they looked uncannily alike, remained by Riven and the rookie's side, her eyes going from the lanky boy to the honed Noxian.

_Now that I think about it, though, he called us all newbies._

_They are just a bit more prepared than noodle boy here, apparently._

_Idiots._

"I'm Sao and this is my brother, Ban." The woman said, "And we're the ones in charge of turning you all into real warriors."

"Today we will put your skills to test," Ban said in a loud, leader's voice. "And it won't be easy by any means," He added, his eyes on red, Noxian ones for a brief second, before darting to the rookie's brown ones. "I advice giving your best."

_He clearly dislikes me, but believes the boy will fall behind._

"One of you is clearly not like the rest," His sister added, staring directly at Riven. "And it's common knowledge who the odd one out is." She came to stand right in front of her, Riven's pupils never meeting hers, for she was standing in attention, looking straight ahead, like she'd do in the Noxian barracks, discipline at its' finest. "No matter who she is and what she has done, she'll be treated like the rest of you, because no one is better nor worse than anybody else in here."

"And she's probably forgotten what being an actual soldier is like, anyway."

"Zeylos," Sao said, not even bothering to turn around to look at the gargantuan man who had spoken underneath his breath, "We will let it fly this one time, but open your big mouth again and you will be punished. She's among you as a newbie, whether you like it or not and that means you're equals. And, besides, she's already a step ahead." Riven felt the woman's eyes roam her figure, "While you're still undressed, she's already prepared for the day."

Riven didn't show her how pleased she was, remaining as neutral as humanly possible. Still, she appreciated it.

_So respect does indeed go both ways and Zeylos is the jackass' name._

_Perfect._

"Having said all of that," Ban said, "We begin right now."

"We'll see you at the training camps." Sao said, leaving the room first, her brother following closely behind.

As soon as they were gone, the Ionians scattered, quickly trying to gather their clothing, their only objective being to get dressed as fast as humanly possible.

Zeylos looked right on time to see Riven swaggering towards the door, already making her way out, the bull of a man growling at the sight as red eyes stared back, her smirk in place, while she opened and closed the door behind her.

Her smirk remained in place as she looked from the closed entry to the hallway that extended behind her, only for it to instantly vanish as she came face to face with Ban and Sao, both with arms crossed, staring at her with their game face on.

She instantly cleared her face from any emotion, standing straight in attention. "My lord, my lady."

The siblings looked at each other before snickering, "We are not lords, Noxian." Sao replied, the nickname Riven so easily earned carrying little to no real venom on her voice, her tongue dripping no poison.

"You shall address us as captains." He shrugged, "By our last name, we'd both be Captain Sato, so you may call us by our first name instead when you address us."

Riven frowned at that.

"Ask the question you have in mind." The man said, having noticed her expression.

"I thought Captain Lito was the only captain Ionia had."

The siblings looked at each other. "Irelia is the _Captain of the Guard. _It's a special rank amongst captains."

"She's above us, if that's what you're asking, but we're above _you."_

Riven nodded her head once, "That is of my knowledge, Captain Sao."

"Very well." The brother said, "Having solved the matters, we'll meet you at the training camp, soldier. Your shield-siblings will be joining you soon."

But Riven remained still, not moving from her spot, her frown still on her face.

The man sighed, "What is it, this time?"

"I do not know where the training camps are, Captain Ban."

He chuckled, his sister looking at her with curious eyes, "New to the neighborhood?" She asked the white haired woman.

Riven nodded her head once. "I arrived yesterday, Captain Sao."

The siblings exchanged a look, "_Very _new to the neighborhood, then." Sao said, before looking at her once more. "Follow us." She commanded, falling into step with her brother, Riven following closely behind, "And loosen up, Noxian. It's alright." She looked at Riven over her shoulder, "We're not in your hometown."

Despite actually relaxing her shoulders, Riven responded, "I've been aware of such a fact since the very beginning, Captain Sao."

"Really?" She felt entertained by the white haired woman. "How so?"

"It's evident in the fact that I've respected you and your brother from the very beginning, instead of doing so only after you two have proven your worth to me."

Both siblings stopped walking at that.

They turned to look at her.

"I know how it must have sounded, but it was not meant like that." Riven automatically explained.

Ban came closer to her, standing face to face, using every inch of height he had over her to try and look more intimidating. "Then you'd better explain how it was meant to sound, because that certainly sounded insulting."

The underlying threat had not gone unnoticed by Riven.

"In Noxus, respect is earned through proof of strength. Superiors are superiors because they've shown you they have a certain strength that cannot be rivaled easily: they're stronger in combat, stronger in knowledge, stronger in will, anything goes as long as they prove themselves." She said as calmly as ever, "Soldiers won't listen to you until they know of your strength and it's only then when they'll start to see you as their leader. Military ranks don't mean anything until they're given worth by those who follow them."

"Well," Ban began, narrowing his eyes at her, "We're not in Noxus anymore, _Noxian."_

Riven fought against her desire to smirk. "I believe that's already been made clear, Captain Ban."

She could see his desire to strangle her in his eyes, but did not look away.

The tension immediately dissipated like a diffused bomb as Sao patted her brother on the back. "Let it go, Ban. Don't be proud and admit she just got you, fair and square."

The man grumbled before turning and walking away, leaving a quiet Riven and a laughing Sao behind.

The Ionian captain shook her head. "Don't worry about it," She said to Riven, "He's just hot headed."

"I didn't mean—"

"I know, _we _know," Sao said, beginning to walk once more, "And it wasn't really disrespectful, but his pride doesn't allow him to let people talk to him like that." She smirked, "Quite the nerve you got going, by the way. Anyone else would have peed their pants if he growled at them like he did to you."

Riven didn't let herself feel pride at that. "I've handled bigger and scarier things before."

"I can only imagine," Sao commented, "But I'm the only one who will go as far as to try and imagine it," She added, before stepping tight in front of Riven, making her stop walking, placing her hands on each of her shoulders. "Right now, you're surrounded by people who would celebrate if they saw you drop dead. No one will have mercy with you in here, so let me give you some advice: keep a low profile and try not to rile everyone up. They already hate your guts, don't justify their hatred by giving them a reason."

Riven stared for a second, the Captain's rather kind words, the undertones of concern dancing inside her head for moment. "Can I talk to you, not as a soldier but as an equal?"

It was a request for the mandatory formalities to be left to a side for a second.

And, judging by Sao's squinty eyes, it was a risky move.

But the Ionian woman allowed it to happen. "Go for it."

Riven slowly started walking slowly once more, her shoulders more relaxed, a certain swagger to her step as she moved, the captain by her side. "I've been through hell and back, Sao." She said, talking to the woman as if she were an old friend. "I've fought my way to the top of the Noxian army and let me tell you that's not an easy thing to do: _all of Noxus_ would bow before addressing me and, As you can tell by what I just told you and your brother, that means I'm _tough_. Then, I went to war and saw everything I loved get killed in front of my eyes. My friends, my sense of honor, my love for my country. All of it, dead and gone."

Sao frowned, looking at the ground as she walked, unsure of where Riven was going to with it all, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"I'm not trying to make you pity me. I will not deny how horrible it's been, but at the same time I must admit it has liberated me." She looked at Sao once she felt her confused stare, "Don't get me wrong; the ghosts of my friends still haunt me and if I could go back and change what happened I'd do it in a heartbeat, but since I cannot do that and since I seem to refuse to die, I'm forced to carry on with the scars and the lessons that's given me."

And then it was Riven's turn to stand in front of Sao, making her halt, "I learned that life's too short to give a shit about things that don't actually matter which are, unsurprisingly so, most things, so I can't find it in me to care about what a few stupid soldiers think of me, let alone whether they hate me or not." She smiled, "Let them come thinking I'm all bark and no bite and watch them go home, crying because the mean Noxian kicked their asses."

Sao smirked at her, "I pity the idiot who thinks you're all bark and no bite, Noxian."

And there really wasn't any malice in the nickname, whenever it came from her.

Riven resumed walking once more, smiling as Sao did the same. "I honestly don't care for anyone's mercy, Captain, but I seem to have your favor." She gazed at Sao, "After all, you do try to imagine what I talk about, while others disregard it as soon as they can."

"Do not mistake my empathy for something it's not, Noxian." Sao replied, "I try not to judge you for your past but I do not like it, either." Then, a thought occurred to her, "Answer me something: if you care not about anything in life, then why are you here?"

"Life's too short to care about meaningless stuff, just like it's too short to ignore those things that actually do matter." Riven replied, "I said I don't care about nonsense, but I _do _worry about what I believe is important."

"And what's important for you?" Sao asked her, talking to her out of curiosity for the unknown that's presented in front of her.

Riven's eyes were unfocused as she answered truthfully without even having to think about it. "Peace of mind."

The Ionian nodded at her response, knowing very well that it was not a light answer.

"That's a good thing to care about."

"I know."

* * *

She really liked the scenario for their training, already.

The training camps were not too far away from the Placidium, set in a clearing that rested in the middle of a bushy forest. Wooden swords were laid on the ground to a side, with bows and quivers full of arrows to the opposite one.

Looking up at the trees, she could see the targets scattered all over them.

_Skill testing._

Every other soldier arrived a few moments after her. Most of them were glaring at her.

Most, but not all.

Her bunkmate didn't even look at her.

_Interesting._

"Okay, newbies!" Ban said in a loud, booming voice, making them all stand in attention in front of them in orderly rows. "Welcome to the trials."

"Before we start the training we must learn _where to _start, so we will test your skill in swordplay, archery and hand to hand combat to see just how much all of you know," Sao added.

"And before we begin the testing, you must warm up. Run around this clearing, thirty laps. Now!"

She could sense Sao's smirk and everyone's angry glares as she began running before anyone else did, quickly speeding to the beginning of the line.

Thirty laps later, no one could pass her.

They stood in front of the two captains once more, everyone with jagged breaths.

Everyone, but the Noxian, who stood tall, her breathing calm and collected.

"Seems one of you is in better shape than the rest," Sao mused out loud.

"And by the end of your training, that situation better change, newbies." Ban grunted, "Or else you won't be soldiers."

"You all know where the door is," Sao said with a smirk, "Try not to use it, though."

"I think we can begin with the testing now," Ban said, "And I'd love to begin with archery, but since you all seem to be tired enough you can't keep a steady hand, we will have to begin with something that requires a bit less precision." He smiled, "Swordplay."

"Each of you, pick a sword from the pile and line up once more." Sao said, watching as they all obeyed.

"The testing will be formatted as duels: two of you will fight each other. When one is defeated, the winner stays, the loser lines up again and a new opponent arises." Ban said, "And since _you _seem to be in perfect shape," He looked at Riven, "You begin." He commanded.

"I pick her opponent," Sao quickly said and Riven knew who she'd call as the Captain's eyes were laid on— "Zeylos, you're in."

The Noxian smirked as she walked to the center of the clearing, knowing the Ionian soldier was giving her a chance to get even with the bouldering man, the captain unaware of what he had done to her last night exactly but knowing full well just how little Zeylos could stand her.

She watched him step forwards too as she twirled her blade on her hand, moving it from one place to another, balancing it on two of her fingers before resuming the twirling once more.

Zeylos growled at her. "You think you're so good, huh?" He asked, "Showing off with stupid tricks—"

"She's not showing off, Zeylos." Sao said as she studied Noxus' perfect soldier. "If you actually _knew _a thing about your opponent, you would know that the kind of weapon she used to wield was, at least, ten times bigger and twenty times heavier." She smirked, "She's testing the sword's weight on her hands and you're already underestimating her."

The man blushed at his own mistake, embarrassment making him even sweatier than before.

Then Riven finished her testing and gripped her sword tight, it's end pointed at the man.

_That _was taunting.

He noticed.

He roared and lunged for her, his sword up above his head.

Riven waited until he was close enough—

She sidestepped him and brought her sword to the back of his neck, gently placing it against his skin, the touch so faint he didn't even feel it.

"_Time!" _Ban roared, making Zeylos freeze. "Zeylos, you're out. Riven stays in."

The Ionian newbie looked at Ban with a frown, "What?"

"She defeated you." Ban stated.

Zeylos turned to look what was going on behind him.

Riven smirked at him, her sword still on his neck.

"She did what in training we call _marking _a blow. Her mark would have been a fatal hit; it means defeat in practice." Sao said. "So you're out, she's still in."

Zeylos stood up, his eyes darting from Riven, who brought the sword to her back as she placed her hands together behind her, to Sao and Ban, who merely waited for him to leave and let someone else come in his stead. "But, but—"

"_But, but!" _Ban mocked him. "You heard us, newbie. _Out!"_

Zeylos glared at her before hurriedly moving back to the line, his face beet red with embarrassment.

"You," Sao said, pointing at the girl who was the next one in line. "In."

So Riven raised her sword and, giving her a bit more of a fight than she gave Zeylos, she defeated her.

Then the next one came in and she defeated him.

And so on.

And so on.

One by one, Riven managed to defeat all of the soldiers who stood against her, none as quick as Zeylos, but mostly because of her own choice.

Then only one was left.

"You, Orlon!" Ban said, pointing at Riven's bunkmate. "You're next."

Riven looked at him.

_Orlon? Is that his name?_

The lanky boy slowly and clumsily made his way to the center, in front of Riven.

He wasn't even holding his sword right.

Riven brought hers up.

He looked nervous.

Slowly, she approached him.

He took a step back and swung his blade at her.

She met the blow with her own sword and made a swing of her own but, unlike the ones she had done against the other newbies, she exaggerated her blade's path, being unnaturally slow.

The kid saw it coming and met it with his blade, though his grip was so soft that Riven had to stop her movement forwards, for it would meet his body anyway if she didn't.

And so, step after step, second after second, Riven kept dealing predictable blows, letting him parry them.

Blow after blow, her attacks slowly but surely became faster, more vicious, more pestering as the boy began to catch her rhythm, but always falling out of step only by a second.

She saw him glare at her throughout the attacks.

She smirked. She had been trying to taunt him with the annoying, fast attacks, if only to—

The boy parried her latest attack and brought his wooden sword to her neck at a speed unexpected from the lanky boy.

She caught his sword with her free hand so as to prevent it from hitting her, only inches away from her neck, her wooden sword falling to the ground as she released it.

"_Time," _Sao said, "Riven loses, Orlon wins."

"That's not fair!" Zeylos roared from the crowd, "She let him win!"

"And how do you know that?" Riven asked him, turning to look at him, breathing a bit heavily, resting her hands on her knees, "I'm tired already, it was obvious he'd win."

Nevermind the fact that she hadn't broken a sweat, let alone lost her breath in all of the swordplay test.

"Fair or not, Orlon's strike would have been fatal. He wins." Sao finished the discussion. "Now, bow and arrow. Pick them up. Now!"

Riven smirked at Zeylos as she watched him growl and walk away, still grunting and mumbling underneath his breath.

She felt Orlon staring at her, but decided to ignore him for a while.

Despite minutes passing by, she could still feel his eyes on her.

_It's going to be a long day._

* * *

She dominated each test.

Archery hadn't been organized as a duel, but a target shooting practice instead.

Despite her desire to let Orlon win, she had no way of letting him do so, so she decided she could take home the prize. With little to no remorsement for the fact that she was crushing her _colleagues, _Riven hit bullseye in each target, before waiting for the rest to be ready and for the final test to begin.

And the final test was hand to hand combat, same format as swordplay, only the end of the fight would be achieved by one of the two fighters tapping out or being knocked out.

She would have to be meaner than with swordplay.

Not that she minded, of course.

And, naturally, she would be the first fighter in the test.

And, of course, Sao would choose Zeylos as her first opponent.

She brought her fists up, her guard at the ready as she watched him.

"What's the matter?" He asked, "You aren't confident enough to show off, now?"

She grabbed him by his wrist and placed her other hand on his chest, gripping the fabric of his robe.

The man looked at her hands and laughed, "What's this?" He asked, "What do you think—"

She pulled from his wrist and pushed his chest back, unbalancing him and, as he took one step backwards, she placed one of her feet on the back of his front leg's knee, bending it and successfully bringing him down to the ground.

He didn't have time to think as Riven quickly placed herself on top of him, her legs straddling his sides as she punched his face repeatedly, slowly escalating his body until her knees were pretty much aligned with his head—

She grabbed one of his hands and quickly swept one of her legs underneath his head, before laying herself on the ground and bringing him up.

She placed the foot of her swept leg on the back of the other's knee and locked it, pulling on the arm she had trapped around her legs, along with his head, bringing her hips up, too.

She watched his face turn red as she kept pulling on his arm and kept closing her legs around his neck and arm as much as she could, offering him a small smirk as she choked him—

Zeylos tapped out desperately and Riven immediately opened up the triangle she had formed with her legs, letting him breathe as she rolled backwards, away from him, standing up once more.

"Riven wins." Sao said, honestly amazed at the Noxian's bare handed fighting prowess.

And just like with swordplay, she defeated everyone else.

She was more merciful with the rest, though, not choking them as badly as she had done with Zeylos, opting for joint locks instead, knocking someone out only once but by accident, with a high roundhouse kick that ended up being a bit stronger than she had expected.

_Oh, well. I can't be deadly accurate on every detail._

Then Orlon was up.

She raised her fists and watched him do the same.

She started swinging.

He blocked. Miserably, but still blocked.

But this wasn't swordplay. It would take either a knockout or the perfect opportunity for her to tap out in order to let him win.

So she kept swinging and he kept swinging back.

But then she had enough.

He swung his left and she sneaked underneath it, taking his back.

Clasping her hands in front of him, she brought him up and, sweeping his feet with one of her own, she brought him to the ground face first.

She rolled him until he was on his back and laid her chest against his from the side.

She applied her weight as pressure against him until she felt him squirm, clearly uncomfortable.

He tried to push her off and she allowed him, following his motion by throwing herself backwards and landing on the ground, but not without bringing him with her, letting him place himself on top of her.

But she was aware of the fact that he probably knew only one way to properly choke someone else, so she made room between his legs and rolled until she was laying on her belly.

Feeling him try to get a better grip on her from behind, she got on her knees and her forearms, a position she had learned to be called _the turtle._

The boy laid himself on her back and brought his arms around her neck, trying to look for—

She turned to the side and made them both fall to the ground once more, the boy's back on the dirt, her own back against his chest as he successfully managed to keep the position intact as they moved, the Noxian's movement catching him off guard but allowing him to—

Orlon circled her neck with one of his arms and clasped that arm's hand on his free one, before slowly squeezing and—

Riven tapped.

"Orlon wins." Sao declared.

The newbie released her and she quickly got up, anticipating Zeylos' complaints and, as an immediate response, coughing exaggeratedly, as if Orlon's choke had actually harmed her, when he actually didn't even manage to close it up properly.

The boy stood up and watched her, "Are you okay?"

Riven nodded her head vigorously before standing tall, stopping her coughing. "I am, thanks." She stretched her arm and offered him her hand. "Good job."

He hesitated at first, but then took her hand and gave it a shake. "You too."

"Alright, rookies," Sao said, realizing that it was already the afternoon. "Considering you've gotten your asses kicked, that will be all for today."

"We will put together the training plan, already knowing where each of you stand in level, and being the _actual _training tomorrow. You're free for the day. Go eat something, because you probably haven't realized how badly you're starving."

And just like that, most of the soldiers scattered like cockroaches when the lights are turned on.

Riven planned on doing the same.

"Noxian."

She couldn't. "Yes, Captain Sao?" She said, standing in attention.

"Could I have a word with you?" She asked with a frown on her face, watching Riven nod and walking her a bit away from anyone else. "I gave you two chances to get even with Zeylos and you only took one. Why?"

"I believe that putting him out of combat as quick as I did in swordplay was even more embarrassing for him than me giving him the ass kicking of his life." She smirked, "But then again, I did that on hand to hand combat, so I got the best of both worlds, I guess."

Sao chuckled, "I think Ban is pissed at the fact that you're, indeed, the best one out of this group."

Riven grimaced, "I can see it in his eyes."

"Why did you let the lanky boy win?"

Riven lolled her head to a side, "Excuse me?"

"Come on, Noxian, don't play with me." Sao said, rolling her eyes, a bored expression on her face. "Everyone in here knows you lost on purpose. He's the worst one out here and if you hope someone will actually believe he managed to defeat you, you're dead wrong."

Riven smirked, "Is it that obvious that I let him win?"

"As obvious as Zeylos' affection for you."

The Noxian chuckled. "Okay, pretty obvious, then." Her eyes landed on the lanky boy, picking up a sword and slowly moving around with it, practicing. "I let him win because I know he's the weakest one out here and I remember how awful it was for me when I was in his place."

Sao raised her brows. "You've been in his place before?" She questioned, finding it hard to believe.

Riven smirked and looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "I've been stuck being the worst soldier of the pack for quite a long time, but I was the one with the strongest will, so I willed my destiny into happening." Her eyes returned to Orlon, still swinging. "He doesn't know it yet, but I know he has potential. The only problem is that he's never had the chance to exploit it."

"And you're giving him the space to do so."

Riven nodded. "I'm letting him explore his abilities in a safe haven. I won't harm him, as long as he's not stupid. That, and I'm also making a statement." She felt Sao frown, so she looked at her once more, "By letting him win, I'm letting everyone know that I stand by him, so anyone who messes with him, is messing with me, too." Her smirk turned dark, "I don't think anyone wants to mess with me after today's little demonstration."

"And when they discover you weren't even trying…"

"They'd shit their pants."

"_At least."_

Riven laughed.

"But why are you so hellbent on making everyone know you're on his side?" Sao asked her, "What about him makes you want to protect him like that?"

"When I entered the squadron's dorm, he was the only one who treated me rather nicely." She shrugged, "Not to say he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, but he let me choose my bed and wasn't a shithead about my reputation, unlike the rest." Her brows furrowed, "When I realized everyone was being a bitch at him too, only because he's smaller than the rest of those brutes, I decided I'd be by his side if he needed me. Sure, it means no one else will want to befriend him, but it doesn't seem like they want to, anyway." She smiled at Sao, "At least this way he gets one friend instead of none."

Sao smiled back, "That's actually something nice of you to do."

"Trust me, Captain," Riven started, "He'll be the best of your battalion once I'm done with him."

"I wouldn't doubt that."

Riven felt eyes on her and, as she turned her head, she saw the lanky boy staring back at her.

He didn't look away.

She smirked.

_Good. Demonstrates character._

Then her stomach rumbled.

The Captain laughed, "Well, I'll let you go, Noxian." Sao said, before laying her hand on Riven's back. "Talk to you later. Go and have some food."

Riven opened her mouth—

"Just follow the rest of them." Sao replied before the Noxian could ask.

So Riven obliged and walked away, quietly observing the rest of her colleagues and trying to follow.

She heard footsteps approaching her from behind, followed by jagged breaths once her pursuer was close enough.

"Orlon is your name, right?" She asked without turning to look at him.

It took him by surprise. "Yeah, I'm Orlon," He replied her question.

"I'm—"

"Riven."

She raised her brows, though he couldn't perceive it. "Exactly." She said. "What can I do for you, Orlon?" She asked him, "Because I doubt you're just tagging along."

"You don't have to let me win." He told her as they walked side by side.

Riven was amused. "I didn't."

Then she felt his hand around her wrist, forcing her to stop walking.

She turned to look at him.

"Thank you for your _kindness, _but I don't need it, nor your pity." He said, a certain hurtful tone to his words. "I must make my mistakes in order to learn. Got to lose to win."

Riven stared at him for a second. "If you think I feel _pity _for you and I let you win out of _kindness_, you know nothing about me." She snorted, "And if you think you got to _lose to win, _you're going to find you keep losing and you never actually win anything, ever."

Still, Orlon didn't back down. "Then why did you let me win?"

Riven sighed, before her stomach rumbled once more. "If you want an answer, guide me to the dining room."

* * *

He watched her as she wolfed down on her food.

"You're the worst soldier."

It put him in a bad mood.

"Seriously, the _worst_ one out there."

"Can you get to the point?" He snapped.

Riven looked at him. "You want to learn how to fight?" She asked him, watching him nod his head. "How to shoot?" He nodded once more. "How to be a soldier?"

"Yes."

"Well, your whole focus is already _wrong." _Riven stated.

The boy frowned. "What—"

"How do you expect to succeed if you've already achieved your goal?" Riven questioned. "You're already a soldier." She shrugged, "A shitty one, but a solder nonetheless." She leaned forwards. "You set the bar low and, to succeed in here, you got to set it impossibly high. You don't want to learn how to fight: you want to learn how to _crush _your enemies in combat. You don't want to learn how to shoot: you want to be the _best _archer. You don't want to be a soldier," She smirked, "You want to be—"

"The best soldier."

"_A leader." _Riven corrected him. "You should aim for the top position, not the best of the lowest one."

Orlon frowned, "I don't get where you're trying to get to, though."

"I can't teach you how to be a good soldier but I can definitely help you become a leader." Riven declared.

"And why would you do that?"

"Because of all the soldiers Ionia has, you're the only one who's not an insufferable bitch, apparently." She narrowed her eyes, "And I can tell you're not even Ionian." She saw him gulp and lolled her head to a side, "Where are you from?"

"Does that even matter?"

He didn't want to answer.

"I guess not." Riven replied.

She stretched a bit, taking two long gulps of water before speaking again, "And before you ask about letting you win: you're right. I let you do it, but you _have _to fight at your own level before you can improve and fight better." She watched him, "These other idiots won't give you the room to improve, so I might as well do it myself."

"It doesn't answer my question, though."

Riven raised a brow.

"Why are you doing this?"

Riven looked away for a second, before looking at him again. "I don't know," She confessed, "I guess I see an old version of myself reflected in you and I want to help you." She mused out loud. "I had no one there for me and still I managed to become the leader of the best army out there, but I know just how awful my journey was." She quickly placed her hand on top of his, catching his attention, "Let me help you and you'll end up being the best warrior out there."

Orlon frowned. "And why should I believe a Noxian would help a weakling, when strength is all you care about?"

And it was an honest question.

So Riven gave him her honest answer.

"Because, unlike Noxus and everyone in it, I outgrew that crazily patriotic, selfish and all-men-for-themselves mindset and learned that everyone can be strong in their own way if we give them a chance and a helping hand. I learned just how valuable it can be, to work with someone, help them grow and let them help you in return, so I will more than gladly help you if you let me."

Orlon wasn't sure. "And what do you want in return?"

Riven smiled, "Your willingness to listen and learn. Consider it my way of giving back for being kind to me when no one else was." She said, "So what do you say, _rookie?" _She teased, "Ready to let me turn you into a Captain?"

He seemed to have his doubts, but he still replied. "Yes," While nodding his head. "I'm in."

"Good," Riven said, before standing up, "I'll meet you in the training camps in an hour."

Orlon had definitely not expected that. "Wait, what?"

"If you want to be the best, you have to train like the best, meaning your train begins before anyone else's and finishes _after." _She turned to leave, "See you." And she was gone.

So Orlon rushed to get some food for himself and wolf down on it.

* * *

A great view of the training camps could be gotten from the Placidium's westernmost alcony. After all, the palace was humongous and, given one walked for long enough and in the right direction, a great view of any spot in all of Ionia could be achieved. the eastern wing, the captain's, displayed all of the city underneath the mountain. The western one, the soldiers', displayed the rest of the mountain.

So Irelia had moved from her wing to the opposite one and, climbing up until she reached the building's top, she got out of it and stood on the balcony, watching the training's initial trials.

Watching Riven dominate on all of them.

Dominate and let the lanky boy win, whenever she could.

And once they had finished, the Captain of the Guard remained there, soaking up the Sun, lazily watching over the bushy forests of the mountain.

She heard light footsteps and, despite herself and her initial desire to flinch, to get on guard, to desperately search for the intruder, she forced herself to remain still, letting said person approach her.

She gripped the balcony's railing so hard her knuckles turned white, clenching her jaw, gritting her teeth together until her head hurt—

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, my Captain."

Irelia turned around, a calm demeanor to her. "Not at all, Sao." She motioned for the blonde to move closer. "Come in."

The lower-rank captain smiled, "Watched the trials, I see?"

Irelia nodded as she looked away into the forest again, "Couldn't help myself."

"You've always liked to make sure your subordinates carried on their tasks properly."

"It's not that." Irelia said, before she sighed, "They aren't—"

"They _suck, _Irelia." Sao replied, making the Captain of the Guard turn to look at her with a bit of shock in her expression, so the blonde cleared her throat, "If you forgive my _audacity_."

The Leader of Ionia quickly shook her head, not to deny her colleague, but to snap out of the quiet surprise she had fallen into. "It's alright. I mean, you're right." She nodded her head then, "They _do _suck."

"_Almost _everyone."

Irelia was zoning out, yet she managed to repeat whatever the woman said. "Almost everyone."

Then Sao dared, "But Riven."

"But Riv—" She quickly looked at Sao. "Excuse me?"

Sao had wide eyes but an unapologetic look on them. "You saw it yourself, didn't you?" She shrugged, "I'm just saying, Captain. She _did _kick their asses—"

"They're just rookies—"

"With technique far better than anything I've seen on _honed _Ionian soldiers and even higher ups." Sao finished. "She was holding back the whole time and she still crushed them. Hell," She shook her head, "I bet she could have gone through all of that with _both _her hands tied up behind her back and her _blindfolded—"_

"Since when is she _Riven _and not _the Noxian?"_

Sao slowly closed her open mouth, smirking at the keen Captain, quietly noting how she had noticed the change. "I tried to keep her at an arm's distance, my Captain, but she's actually, dare I say, _nice." _Then, a thought came to her, "That, or she just knows who to sweet talk, but I honestly think it's the former."

"What tells you that?"

Sao looked at her, "My gut." She shrugged. "I got a hunch and you've known me for how long now, Irelia?" She frowned, looking into the sky as she thought. "Six, seven—"

"_Seven _years."

"Seven years." Sao replicated, nodding her head. "You've known me for seven years. In all that time, how many hunches have I had?"

Irelia nodded reluctantly. "Many."

"And how many times have I been wrong?"

She grimaced. "Never."

Sao smiled triumphantly. "There you go."

"I don't know."

"If you're not sure about her change of heart, then why did you invite her to Ionia?" Sao questioned, "Isn't that kind of stupid, if you don't actually believe in her?"

Irelia nodded, raising a brow. "I guess you could say I had a hunch, too, but I don't trust them as blindly as you."

"And that's why you reduce her to a mere rookie and make her go through the trials?"

"I reduce her to a mere rookie and make her train alongside them because I want to see who she _really _is." She eyed Sao, "Will she abide by our rules and play _our _game, respect our traditions, or will she say _fuck it _and put that Noxian pride on display?"

"Has she really changed for good or is she still the _Hand of Noxus?"_

Irelia smiled. "Exactly that is what I'm asking."

Sao hummed, "I can't see anything wrong with your little experiment to bring the Noxian's true colors out, except for the fact that you may be wasting your time a bit."

"I have a lot of time to waste." Irelia replied. "And I'd rather waste it on watching her prove herself than spend it worrying about her stabbing me on my sleep."

"I don't think that fear is ever going to go away, Irelia."

"It doesn't hurt to try, though."

Sao nodded. "You're right." She said, smiling as something in the training camps caught her eye. "And there she goes, proving me right and proving you wrong."

Irelia tried to locate whatever she was talking about.

She raised her brows as she saw Riven, running around the training camps with the lanky boy by her side.

"Riven _and _Orlon?" Irelia asked, hearing Sao hum in confirmation. "What's that about?"

"She's hellbent on making him the best soldier out there, don't know why." She smiled at Irelia. "Do you think that will change once she finds out he's Demacian?"

Irelia shook her head. "I believe she already knows."

"Or maybe she just has a hunch."

Irelia nodded, "Maybe, but I still think she doesn't care about it."

"Should I stop their _extra _training?"

"There's no rules against training _more _than what's required." She looked at Sao, "Let them train their extra hours."

"Well, then," Sao said, slowly backing away, "In that case, I'll let them be, but I still have to meet with Ban to plan tomorrow's training."

"Sounds perfect, you're dismissed." Irelia said, still watching Riven and Orlon as the boy stood on his guard, Riven correcting his fighting posture. "I still want you to keep a close eye on her, though."

Sao was by the door when she heard that, smiled and said, "I wasn't planning on leaving her unsupervised, my Captain, though it seems you watch her just as intently as you commanded me to do."

And maybe it was because she had zoned out watching Noxus and Demacia train together, but Irelia hadn't really heard that final bit as the door closed behind Sao, her reply being only one small, mumbled word.

"Good."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello! Sorry for the long delay! (well, long for _my _apparent standards. Let's be real, it wasn't that long). School was kicking my butt and I had little to no time to write but I'd like to say i'm trying to come back to it!

Someone asked whether I have an updating schedule. I wish I could be that organized and not-eager to post as soon as I write, but unfortunately I am not. I post chapters as soon as I finish them writing, that's why sometimes I post like 3 times a week and then go a while without updating. Erratic, but never a quitter, folks! Stay tuned.

Your comments and reviews and everything are always hella appreciated! so leave em below, buddies!

I love y'all!


	6. Make A Choice

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello y'all! Happy easter!

* * *

Days had passed. Weeks.

Not much had changed.

Not for good.

She had started training Orlon: the boy did not learn much and did not learn fast. Still, she trained him, forcing him to start hours before anyone else did, while it was still nighttime and twilight was far away from them, and to finish many hours after, when dusk was gone and Diana's Goddess was up in the nightly darkness once more.

_Diana._

She missed her madly.

She still prayed, every night.

Never telling her much about what was going on in Ionia because she _knew _her friend and knew she'd worry, so she was always mostly wondering how things were back in the Temple.

Wondering if she missed her just as badly.

And while not much had changed, some things _did _change.

For bad.

Every night, she had trouble sleeping, which was no news for her, who used to walk around the Empyrean Temple aimlessly, if only to tire herself up and go back to sleep.

Nightmares came back, but they never lasted long. They never made her scream into the night anymore.

Because every night, Riven would wake up from her restless sleep to the feeling of someone approaching her bed.

She had always had that uncanny ability, to wake up whenever her life was threatened.

She'd remain quiet, still, as someone dragged a knife across her skin.

She'd pretend to be asleep as someone placed cuts and bruises all over her.

Trying to scare her. Trying to defeat her. Trying to break her.

But she was strong.

_No one _in Noxus had been able to defeat her, scare her, break her, so _no one _in Ionia would be able to do so either.

But she was tired. _So _tired.

And her patience was vast, but she was running out of it. Slowly, yet surely.

_Anytime now, I'm going to lose it._

She wasn't sure whether it was all a trick Irelia was playing on her, trying to get her to explode, or if it was just an unfortunate coincidence, being watched and being taunted at the same time.

All she knew was that she was going to lose it, explode, maybe kill someone, and it was all going to happen sooner rather than later.

Still, she might have been tired, she might have been losing her patience, her sanity, her self control, but she still had a job to do and she'd give it her best.

So she had woken up that day, Orlon already up and waiting for her, ready for their early start, and she had gone with him to the training camps, beginning their training before anyone else did.

She had ignored Orlon's furtive looks towards her increasingly-harder-to-hide cuts and bruises, which grew in number, too.

She had trained him until everyone else appeared in the training camps and then trained alongside them too.

She had thought that, maybe, what Ban and Sao had said the first time they met had been a lie, for she was certain they gave her a special treatment.

_Well, Sao does, at least._

Because she was always paired with Orlon in paired training, no matter how many times everyone else changed training partners.

Because she was allowed to avoid doing the training drills if it meant she'd explain them to Orlon better than any of the two Captains did, enabling him to do them instead of bullshitting his way through them.

Because she was allowed to act as _Orlon's trainer _most of the time, instead of just acting as another trainee.

So, when everyone else arrived, she stopped their particular training and guided him throughout the day's drills instead, ignoring Zeylos' dirty glares and vicious smirks.

Fully aware that him and his lackeys were most definitely behind her cuts and bruises.

And when Sao had called her and taken her away from the group to ask her about it—

"It's nothing," She had replied.

And despite Sao's insistence, asking the Noxian for a name, a suspect, a cause to her injuries—

"I promise, Captain Sao," Riven had said with fury making her jaw clench and her eyes focus hard on the Captain's hazel ones, "It's alright."

Sao did not believe that, not even for a second, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get anything out of the white haired warrior. "Well, in any case, know that you can talk to me about it."

"I know, Captain, but I don't want to."

Then it clicked in Sao's head.

Riven was _accumulating _that anger.

Bottling it up, with only the Gods knowing what for.

She had the feeling that Riven actually _wanted _to snap, but she wanted to do it in the ugliest way possible and with the perfect excuse.

She was playing by their rules, but finding the loopholes where she could use her own.

She thought it was her right to do so. To play her own game and fool them all into thinking she had been playing theirs all along.

To explode like the Zaunite Unit that had killed both her friends and Irelia's.

She _knew _it was her right to do so.

So, against her own leader, the orders and advice she had been given, "Very well, soldier," Sao said, nodding her head and pretending she had not caught sight of Riven's violent intentions. "You may return to your partner, then." She finished their little talk, watching as Riven bowed and walked back to Orlon.

_It's her right to play. It's her right to explode._

She glanced at Zeylos, aware that he was the one behind the woman's abused body, but lacking enough evidence to aid the Noxian and seek justice for her.

So she'd let Riven do justice by her own hand.

_It's her Ionian right to balance things out and abuse his body in return for his actions, no matter what anyone thinks of it._

_It's her Noxian right to kill him, no matter what Irelia thinks of it._

* * *

"No, no, Orlon, I already told you this like a thousand times: your feet are _too _far apart."

The scolding tone was glaringly obvious. The boy shifted in his stance.

Riven sighed. "Now they're _too _close."

He moved once more.

Riven groaned, "Too far." She said, her annoyance evident on her every word.

"Well I don't know what you want me to do," He responded, "You have to understand this is hard for me."

"I do, believe me." Riven replied, an angry kind of taunt evident on her sarcastic, mocking tone, "But you need to put a bit of effort yourself."

The boy glared at her, for her condescending tone was getting on his nerves. "I am."

"Then put _more."_

He closed his eyes, trying not to react at how she had raised her voice. "You don't have to treat me like that—"

"But _I do," _Riven growled, moving a step closer towards him, his face deformed into a vicious scowl. "I'm _sick and tired _of this training, _sick and tired _of you not learning a thing—"

They heard a booming laugh that made Orlon flinch and Riven tremble with rage.

"—And I'm _fucking sick and tired _of that brute."

Orlon sighed, "Riven—"

"Still teaching the stick boy how to swing, Noxian?" Zeylos' voice came as he walked towards them, having caught sight of them from afar, before another boisterous laugh was let out between his lips. "Good luck with that—"

"Will you shut up someday?" Riven let out in a dangerously tense voice at him.

Orlon flinched despite it not being aimed at him.

But Zeylos wasn't done yet. "What did you say to me?" He asked her, slowly approaching the woman, "You'd better watch your mouth, little bi—"

Riven moved towards him so fast neither of the two men realized it until her hands were already pressing on the tall man's neck. "Now listen to me," She growled, low between her gritting teeth. "You will stop pestering me or else I'll beat you up so badly not even your own _mother _will recognize your ugly face." Came her threat, "Now _go!" _She yelled at him as she brought her leg up between them and delivered a front kick to his gut, pushing him away and leaving him breathless, "And bother someone else, if you're not _kind enough _to do us all a favor and _shut the fuck up_."

She watched him as he regained his footing, "You think I'm afraid of you?" He asked her as one of his hands went to his neck and he moved closer to her.

"You _should _be."

Orlon caught sight of the hair at her nape standing on end.

Riven smirked at the bull of a man, "You have five seconds to leave before I choke the life out of you, jackass."

And as she started to count, the bouldering man started to walked away, not without throwing dirty looks at her and the lanky boy, "You won't get away with this," He said, convinced to leave by an eerie feeling that had taken over his bones.

But he'd swear it wasn't fear. He'd swear it until his death.

Once he was gone, Riven slowly breathed in and out, trying to regain her composure.

That hair that stood on end went back to normal.

But she didn't manage to reign in on her feelings.

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, Riven," She heard Orlon say as he walked towards her, "But you should try not to cross him." She glared at nothing as she heard him from somewhere behind her, "These past few weeks you two have been clashing a lot and—"

"And I'm _fucking tired _of it already," Riven finished for him, turning to look at him with fury in her eyes. "Ever since training started he's been bothering me nonstop. I have a _lot _of patience, as you already know, but even my patience lasts so long before it's consumed and I swear to whatever Gods you praise, he's making me reach that end!"

Orlon sighed, "I know, I know, he annoys the Hell out of me too, but you _know _the captains are watching you, Ban waiting for you to make a mistake—"

"Ban?" Riven asked incredulously, before laughing it off. "_Irelia Lito _is watching me, waiting for me to _make a mistake_ so that she has the perfect excuse to kick me out of the country she had invited me into in the first place." She exhaled loudly. "I know I'm being watched and _I don't care_. I don't care if I get kicked out, I don't care if they throw me in a cell somewhere to rot, I don't care if anyone tries to kill me and I don't care if anyone who tries actually _succeeds." _She was close to him, "I'm _done, _I'm _done _with all of it: the training, the captains, the threats, the bickering, the pretending to be something I'm not, I'm _done!" _She roared, "And I'm certainly _done _with you not learning a _fucking _thing."

He didn't like the sound of that. "You promised me you'd teach me."

Riven huffed a laugh, "Oh, I never said I wouldn't teach you."

Then she pushed him, making him stumble a few steps backwards. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I tried being nice, Orlon, but as it turns out, it doesn't work with you." She said, looking at him with a bored expression. "So now we do it my way," She added, before pushing him again.

"Stop that!"

"Stand properly and I won't be able to push you around, newbie." She said, her tone getting harsher as she pushed him once more. "I told you to _fucking stand properly!" _She roared, not letting him regain his posture, already following him as he stumbled and pushing him again.

She got more and more vicious with her actions, pushing him harder and faster every time as she followed his staggering steps, ignoring his mumbled complaints, "What the _fuck _is wrong with you that you have _one fucking lesson _to learn and you _can't fucking do it!" _She shouted at him, forcing him backwards once more. "I told you to _fucking," _She pushed him, "_Stand," _She did it once more, "_Right!" _And her hands moved towards his shoulders yet again—

She couldn't be sure, but she believed she faintly heard him yell something like _enough _as she was sent flying backwards, her back hitting a tree that was yards away from the boy, before falling to the ground on her hands and knees, a big hole now on her robe, right where she had felt Orlon's hands on her.

She quickly looked up at him.

_How in the Hell…?_

He was shaking, his wide eyes going from her on the ground to his own hands, _on fire_, a look of terror on his face.

The cogs inside her brain, which had been working nonstop at full speed, suddenly came to a stop as she finally managed to see the full picture.

"You're a mage." She said as she raised her head and looked at him, slowly getting up from the ground, but saying it only once didn't make it seem real, so she repeated herself, "You're a—"

"_Don't say it!"_

She hadn't expected that. "But you are, aren't you?" She questioned.

"_Shut up—"_

"What are you so scared of?" She asked him, snorting as she added, "For a second, one would believe you're a Demacian, acting like that about magic."

She saw how he suddenly stared at her and her mirth died out.

Her lips formed a quiet _Oh, _"You _are _Demacian, aren't you?"

He was shaking even more than before.

"I don't really need you to answer that."

She already knew the answer.

_Yes._

She slowly walked towards him, watching him as he quickly picked up a bow and arrow from the ground—

She stopped walking as he took aim in her direction.

Riven chuckled, "What are you doing?"

"If you take another step, I'll shoot you." Orlon nervously let out, a desperately crazy look on his face.

Riven looked at him with a bored expression, "First of all, Orlon," She stretched one of her arms out to her side, "You're aiming _here," _She told him, shaking her hand a little bit. "If you want to kill me, you should—"

Orlon fixed his aim.

"—Now that's better." Riven said, aware that he was now aiming at her head. "Second, why are you suddenly so afraid of me?"

"What do you think, _Noxian_?!"

Riven closed her eyes. "Do you really think I care about your home country, Orlon?"

"Why wouldn't you?!" He shouted at her, shaking in fear of the Noxian and himself. "You're Noxian, I'm Demacian, we're _enemies!"_

"If you want to kill me then go ahead and release that arrow." Riven said, her voice strong. "I don't care that much about my life, anyway," She shrugged, "Never have. But if you think I didn't _at least _suspect it, then you're stupider than I've ever thought. I mean, _come on," _She rolled her eyes at him, "Your name is _Orlon. _There's only one other person with that name that I can think of," She smirked, "Demacia's founder. You were named after him, weren't you?"

"How would you know that—"

"It's a requirement for Noxian children at school to learn Demacian history, besides Noxus'." Riven replied before he could even finish the question. "And once you get into the military, it's required that you learn _every_ nation's historical events and popular military strategies by heart." She tapped a finger to her temple, "Knowledge is power. Power is everything."

Orlon's aim faltered, "But you never mentioned—"

"I never mentioned it because you were reluctant to tell me about it when I asked, when we first talked about training together. Remember?" Riven questioned, watching him nod. "Considering it to be a touchy subject, I decided to leave it alone because I know how badly it maddens me when people comment on _my _birthplace." Then, a thought came to her, "And I _could _have been wrong," She admitted. "Your reluctance to tell me confirmed it, but I still had a chance of being wrong in my guess. Small, but there."

Orlon still doubted her—

"Come on," She hurried him, "Put the bow down." She said, then raised a brow, "Or kill me, but make a choice. Quickly."

She watched him as he hesitated for a moment, before finally lowering the bow.

Riven released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Good," She said, before turning and walking away.

Orlon watched her with a frown. "Where are you going?"

"I need a break," She said while walking, before looking at him over her shoulder, "And we need to talk." She looked ahead again, "Let's go."

Orlon dropped the bow and ran after her.

They made it to the dining room in a matter of minutes, Orlon still struggling to catch up with Riven, while the Noxian ignored everyone's curious looks at the holes burnt into her robe and went directly to the first person in charge she could find and—

"Is there something to drink in here?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at her, "Water, over there," She said pointing at a table, packed with jars.

"No, no," Riven shook her head, "I mean something with alcohol in it."

The woman's eyes suddenly widened, "What—"

"_Please," _Riven immediately placed her hands on the woman's shoulders, "I _need _a drink."

They kept the other's stare for a moment before the bigger woman subsided, "I'll see what I can do."

Riven released her, "Thank you," She said, watching her disappear into the kitchens.

"What are you doing?" Orlon asked her as he finally caught up with her, trying to catch his breath in the process.

"Trying to cope." She said, smiling at the woman as she came back and subtly handed her a cup. "Thank you."

"Careful, it's strong." She mumbled.

Riven looked like she could cry. "You're a Godsend." And, as the woman nodded her head once in dismissal, Riven mimicked her and walked away, Orlon trailing after her.

They found a table that was completely unoccupied and Riven quickly got comfortable on one of its' seats, smelling her drink as Orlon took a seat to her right, frowning at her while he did so. "What is that?"

Riven grimaced a bit. "I don't know but I can _smell _just how bad a decision this is." She confessed, before taking a gulp and letting her face contort into an even funnier expression. "Yes, definitely a bad idea."

Orlon took her cup and smelled it, before looking at her in shock. "You're _drinking?" _He asked her with a judgemental tone. "Right _now?"_

"_Yes," _She replied, glaring at him as she took the cup back, "I am and I'm doing it right now, thanks for noticing." She took another gulp before resting her drink on the table.

"Why?"

"I told you already, _coping."_

Orlon shook his head, "What do you even mean—"

"I'm not particularly _fond _of fire_, _Orlon," She said, subtly placing her right hand closer to him, if only to make him look at it, observe her bandages and be reminded of the scorched flesh underneath them. "And one of my closest friends used to be a pyromancer, too, so you kind of made painful memories resurface in my mind."

_Leah. Crimson Elite. Dead in the chemical fire._

But he couldn't have known that. No one knew enough about the Crimson Elite, let alone the Zaunite Unit's incident, to ever know that.

Still, the boy frowned, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Riven said, "I have the feeling that you didn't really mean to do..." She grimaced, "Whatever you did."

She took a quick gulp after saying that.

She sighed, "Damn, it tastes good after all."

"Give me some—"

"_No," _Riven glared at him. "You need to be completely sober. We're still going to train." She took another sip, "Even if you're a fire mage."

Orlon sighed and mumbled something, but Riven couldn't quite hear it.

She frowned. "What?"

"I said I'm not a fire mage." He replied. "I don't really know what my magic's nature is, but I'm not a pyromancer." He sighed, "Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning and water starts pouring out of my mouth or I can't breathe and the wind behaves weirdly around me." He laughed nervously, "I've even seen electricity coming out of my fingertips."

"You're an elemental mage." Riven told him, making him look at her. "Your magic responds to every and all emotions that surpass you." When she noticed how he was frowning at her, she continued, "When you feel that sorrow that puts a lump in your throat, water comes out of your mouth. When you feel like you can't breathe, the air that surrounds you becomes a crazy hurricane. You're nervous and electricity makes your hair stand on end. You're angry…" She took a gulp from her drink, "And you burn a hole through my shirt."

"I'm sorry about that—"

"It's alright, it's what I get for getting on your nerves."

Orlon looked at his own hands. "I wonder what happiness would make me do."

Riven felt the question implied in his words. "Oh, if you don't know, then I have no clue."

"You just explained my powers to me."

"Yeah, I was just making an educated guess," Riven said, a raised brow. "I know a thing or two about elemental mages but I never knew one personally until just now."

Orlon looked away, "That's a shame."

"Never been that happy?" She asked him, taking another sip, watching him shake his head. "Well then, I guess we'll have to figure that one out."

"Isn't it sad that I've never known true happiness?"

Riven snorted. "At least you don't know true pain either, boy." He glared at her, as if offended by her words, which she merely shrugged away, "Trust me, you have no idea how it feels."

"And you do?" Orlon asked her, raising a brow, still hurt by how she had minimized him, "Because you've fought in some war—"

"_Watch it," _She warned, glaring at him. "Because I now know the extent of your power but you don't even know what you're facing when you look at me."

He gulped. She looked away.

Minutes passed.

"I didn't mean to lose my cool."

Orlon looked at her, "It's alright, I shouldn't have brought that up—"

"I'm not talking about just now." Riven said and Orlon could _feel _the anger in her voice. "I meant every word I said. I'm talking about earlier, when we were training."

"Oh," Orlon replied, his gaze unfocused as it followed her glass, the Noxian still drinking slowly, enjoying her drink.

He heard the Noxian sigh. "The truth is I'm tired, Orlon." She looked at him. "I'm tired of letting everyone in here push me around for the sake of not starting up a fight. I'm tired of being treated like shit, mostly because I don't deserve it."

Orlon swallowed, "Are you sure about that—"

"No one in here was in that war to know what I've done and what I haven't done, what I've gone through and what I've made others suffer." Riven told him, "No one here has been a direct victim of my doing but Irelia, so she can mistreat me all she wants, but the rest of these Ionians?" She scoffed, "They have no right—"

"You tried to invade their country and killed only the Gods know how many of their friends, their family." Orlon retaliated. "Maybe you didn't affect them directly, but indirectly."

"Are you _really _getting on their side, Orlon?" Riven questioned and he could _feel _the anger in her. "Let's say you're right and what I've done is enough for them to punish me for everything I do. What about you, then?"

"What do you mean?"

"What dirt could they possibly have on you to treat you the way they do?" Riven asked him, "Because they hate me, but they also hate you."

"They hate me because I'm friends with you."

Riven laughed, "Orlon, they hated you _before _I even got here," She told him, "And if I really were your problem then you wouldn't have befriended me, because you might be Demacian but you're not as stupidly dense as your average Garen Crownguard."

Orlon glared, "Hey!—"

"Garen _is _stupid _and _dense, like the typical Demacian." She saw him open his mouth to reply, "Do _not _argue with me about this. You _know _I'm right."

He decided she must have known enough Demacians to be certain about what she was saying. "I guess you're right."

"Hey, don't be so sad about it," Riven said, placing a hand on his back at the defeated tone he had used, "Noxians suck, too." She snorted, "They suck in a different way, but that doesn't make them any less sucky."

"You're talking as if you weren't Noxian yourself."

"Because I'm not _that _kind of Noxian. I'm a better kind of Noxian."

"Which is?"

"Me. Only me."

Orlon snorted, "Sounds legit."

"Hey, I _just _told you that you aren't as dense as the typical Demacian. Complimenting a natural enemy automatically makes me better than the typical Noxian."

Orlon chuckled, "You're right, you're right. Apologies."

"Apology accepted." Riven stated.

Then silence reigned in.

She took a few sips from her drink before she spoke again.

"A long, long time ago, I would have hated you with your nationality as my only reason to do so, Orlon."

That made him look at her, but she was still looking away.

"A long, long time ago, I would have killed you as soon as I heard your name, knowing very well only a Demacian would be called like that." She confessed to him in a quiet voice, taking a gulp from her drink. "A long, long time ago, I would have been the Noxian everyone —and I mean _everyone _—expects me to be. I would have been the _Perfect Soldier, _the _Hand of Noxus _herself." She huffed a laugh, "I would have been the best example of what a Noxian with all of their Noxian pride and _Blood for Noxus _should be. I really would have been it."

She stretched before looking at him, "But a lot of things have changed." She told him, finally looking at him in the eye, "I fought for Noxus in a war that later I discovered to be a trap for both Ionia and the true Noxian spirit. I fought a war of cowards and dirty moves and was betrayed by my own soldiers as one of them started the fire meant to kill both Irelia and I in it. That _one _event changed absolutely everything in me."

She looked into her glass, now more than halfway empty. "I passed out with an army behind me and I woke up alone, abandoned in a sea of bodies." She told him in a quick, ushered whisper. "When that happened, I decided Noxus was no home for me, for no one had cared about searching for their oh-so-respected _leader._" Her fingers gripped the cup tighter. "So I ran away in a self-imposed exile. Let them think I was dead while I wondered why I even was alive." She took another gulp. "Don't get me wrong, I still live by the Noxian values: power, strength, courage, respect… _willpower, _but a lot has changed."

She raised her gaze, but still avoided his eyes as she looked straight ahead. "In that long exile, I encountered a few people that taught me valuable lessons. Lessons that the average Noxian would despise." She smirked, "You see, in Noxus we are taught that life is a competition and everyone's an enemy, with other Noxians being the only worthy opponents out there. We come together when necessary but, besides those specific times, it's _a man for himself, _back home. It's rare in Noxus, to find a team that enjoys _being one _and sticks together because of it, rather than a team that's been forced together and can't wait for the chance to disband itself."

She tried not to think of the Crimson Elite.

"It's hard, in Noxus."

She failed.

"But it doesn't have to be like that _everywhere _else."

She stared at him out of the corner of her eye, "In my long time traveling, I learned just _how valuable _it is to work together, to help those who are weaker rather than put them down only because of it." She smiled at him, "I learned just how powerful we can be if we work together, if the strongest help the weakest realize there's no limit for what we can do, for there are thousands of different kinds of strong and they are _all _important in their own way." She fully faced him, "I learned not to fear the other's power, but help it grow, letting it help my own. Demacians, Noxians, Ionians, Piltovians and Zaunites... " She shook her head, "In the end, none of it matters. At least, not to me, anymore. I learned we are all the same kind of idiot, only with a different flag on our banners. I live by my Noxian values but that doesn't mean I'm a Noxian anymore; the part of my essence that made me one died in that war."

She sighed as she took a quick gulp, "I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this is that I don't quite care if you're Demacian or half-fish. If you're willing to stand by me, I'll stand by you. If you're willing to let me, I'll still help you."

Orlon looked at her for a long minute before chuckling, "You really are something else, aren't you?"

Riven lolled her head to a side, an impish smirk on her lips, "I've been told that once or twice before," She confessed as she raised her cup, hiding her face from him.

Orlon sighed, "I don't care much for Demacian values, if I'm honest." He raised a brow, "I guess I'm Demacian only in origin, not even in principles like you with Noxus." He confessed, looking at her, "I'm not exactly the image of a perfect Demacian, you know?"

"No, you're the opposite," Riven said, eyeing him. "You're small, awkward…" She raised her brows, "_And _a mage." She grimaced, "That makes you the opposite of it."

It pained Orlon to hear it, but it was the truth. "Exactly."

"Is that why you're trying to get into the Ionian army instead of Demacia's?" She questioned, "Because of your nature?"

Orlon nodded, but it was almost imperceptible. "I discovered my power not too long ago, maybe a few months earlier." He looked at his own hands. "A mage named Sylas had been discovered only days before me and he had been captured and sentenced to death, so you can imagine what I felt upon realizing I was the next one in line if anyone ever found out."

"So you made the sudden decision to leave Demacia and come to Ionia." She saw him nod, "But _why _here? Why not somewhere else?"

"I wanted to become a soldier. I was advised to come to Ionia, because it's a place where magic grows freely and is even encouraged to be let out, rather than caged and hidden away or _worse_, killed_. _It's a country that's developing a strong military and welcomes anyone who's willing to enroll and fight for it. Its' shaky relationship with Demacia also helps, for it means no one would ever find out about my nature and, if they did, Ionia would protect me from Demacia, forbidding them from taking me back and declaring me a criminal, let alone sentencing me to death."

"By becoming a Ionian, you're protected by Ionia's laws, no matter what your true origin is," Riven mused out loud, hearing him hum in agreement. "Who advised you to come here?"

Orlon gulped. She knew he didn't want to tell her.

Still, he did.

Without betraying his friend.

"A girl from Demacia. A mage, just like me, who has unfortunate ties to Demacia that forbid her from ever leaving it behind."

Riven didn't need to think much to put two and two together. She _knew _that mage. "Luxanna Crownguard."

Orlon turned pale at the sound of Garen's sister's name. "How did you know?"

"We met once or twice and I've seen her use her power. She's a light mage."

Orlon didn't know how to react, "If anyone finds out—"

"Orlon, I've known about her for _years. _If I wanted to use that knowledge against her, I would have done so a long time ago." She took another sip, realizing there was only one more left. "So she found out about you and helped you escape before you had to suffer this guy Sylas' same fate."

Orlon nodded, letting Riven guide him back to their main topic. "And that's how I ended up here."

Riven smirked, "I ended up here hoping I could make amends with Irelia Lito." She told him, bringing the cup to her lips, nodding as she watched him grimace. "I know, right? Suddenly your own panorama lightens up a bit."

"It surely does." And minutes passed before he finally asked, "So what are we going to do, now?"

Riven finished her drink.

"We tried the Ionian way, Orlon, and it didn't work." She sentenced. "I suck at teaching with it and you suck at learning with it."

"I'm slow to learn." He said, feeling pity for himself.

"Slow to learn is an understatement." Riven scolded him. "But you _did _react to a bit of pressure."

"A bit?" He asked her, "I'd say a lot."

Riven smirked, "That's the Noxian way for you and _that's _the way we'll be working from now on."

He shook his head, "What?"

"I did _not _lie when I told you I lost my patience," Riven told him, "Now, come on," She said, standing up only to find out she wasn't as steady as she thought she was, quickly blinking fast, putting her game face on, hiding her surprise at the newfound information, "We've got training to do."

Still, despite having hidden it perfectly, Orlon managed to see the split second where her stance faltered a bit. "Are you sure about that?"

Riven smiled at him, a cocky thing on her lips. "Totally. Let's go."

So he reluctantly got up and followed the swaying girl.

"I've trained a lot of people in my life, but I've never trained an elemental mage before," Riven told him as they walked, "But I'm guessing what worked with others might work with you, so we'll try anyways."

"I'm a bit scared of our new _approach _to training." He confessed, hearing the Noxian laugh at that.

"Don't be." She told him, "But at the same time, it's good that you are."

"Why?"

So she suddenly turned to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, "Because now we're doing it my way and that means I won't be patient. There's no mercy for weakness and cowardice, so you either learn the lesson and survive or fail the attempt and get killed."

He swallowed his own saliva at her words, before Riven smiled at him and released him, resuming their walking.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Riven replied, "Ask away."

"You said something earlier… _I now know the extent of your power but you don't even know what you're facing when you look at me." _He looked at her with a frown. "What did you mean by that?"

She had meant the runic sword she had hidden in her personal belongings' chest, back in their dorms. The one she'd get out of it every night whenever she felt everyone was sound asleep, only to feel it with her own hands for a moment before putting it back in the chest and going to bed, praying to the Moon for a while until her eyes closed on their own accord.

But should she tell him? Everyone knew about her broadsword, for it was the former Hand of Noxus' trademark, but no one really knew about the runes carved into it and just how powerful they were.

"I haven't showed anyone in here what I'm capable of, Orlon." She settled for saying. "All you and everybody else saw me do was just a fraction of what I can do, of my real strength and power."

A half-truth.

A completely true statement, actually, for she was not lying.

Only avoiding telling him about those times when her eyes went from _red _to _green._

"Will you ever show me what you're capable of?"

Riven huffed a laugh. "Maybe, if I consider you're worthy of it."

"What should I do to be worthy of it?" Orlon asked her, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Be loyal to me." Riven finished. "Now let's go, I've got a Demacian ass to kick."

She hurried away, leaving him behind for a second which he used to curse her name away, before catching up with the Noxian, ready to start a new kind of training.

* * *

"Let me go, Sao."

"Irelia, you're being unreasonable—"

"_She was beating him up!"_

"Yeah, and he somehow sent her _flying away!"_

Irelia tried to move past her friend, but failed as the blonde managed to get on her way once more.

It infuriated her. "Let me _go!"_

She tried to power through her, pushing her to a side, but Sao successfully caught her arm and made her spin with her, pushing her back to the balcony where she had been watching Riven and Orlon from, having been a witness ro Riven's loss of composure, Orlon's magical reveal.

"I will _not _let you go until you see fucking _reason, _Irelia!" Sao roared back, having come to Irelia to tell her about her discoveries regarding Riven and how she was being abused somehow, her timing being perfect for she reached her friend just in time to see Riven explode and Orlon follow suit.

Irelia then had shouted that the Noxian was _dangerous _and that she _hadn't changed at all, _deciding she should kick her out of Ionia, her invitation being a _stupid mistake_, getting ready to do so, even going as far as considering the idea of an execution, when Sao stopped her and tried to talk her into seeing the big picture, telling her about how Riven had it worse than anyone else, how she had marks on her body that Sao concluded couldn't have appeared due to training and how they should investigate further before making any rash decisions.

It had only fueled Irelia's anger.

It had only given Sao a reason to stop Irelia from ever leaving that room.

"See fucking reason?" She replied, scoffing, "I can't believe you're siding with a _Noxian, _Sao."

"I'm siding with a _human being, _Irelia." Sao said back in anger, "A human being who's being abused by her peers and she's not doing anything about it because she doesn't want to get in your nerves."

"She already did that."

"_Because she's been pushed over that edge!" _Sao roared, "Fucking listen to me and—"

She quieted down as Irelia hushed her, her eyes out on the training camp.

* * *

"Okay, Orlon, enjoy these minutes of kindness because these will be the last you'll get from me," Riven said, suddenly walking fast, her strut so decisive and strong it made her look like a predator as she approached the pile of swords and grabbed two, throwing one in Orlon's direction.

The boy caught the sword and looked at her, confused at her sudden change of demeanor, specially the tone she had used, so authoritative, so strong, rude and powerful all of a sudden, so contrasting to the tone she had been using before.

It demanded attention. It demanded respect.

It made him terrified of her, the complete shift that made her go from a friend to a stranger.

From an ally to an enemy.

Riven stared at him with a furrowed brow, "Game's rules have changed, boy."

He felt his blood run cold.

He realized then that it wasn't Riven talking to him.

That was the Hand of Noxus, brought back to life for the sole purpose of training him.

Of helping her friend survive the Ionian jackasses around them.

"You will learn your lessons as we go." She said, twirling the blade on her fingers.

This time, she _was _showing off.

"If you learn, good for you. Means you survive yet another day. If you don't…" She smiled at him, but there was only cruelty on her face. "Nobody will really miss you, will they?"

It was so uncannily cold, so horrible and awful.

"But I don't know how—"

He couldn't finish the sentence for Riven was talking long steps towards him.

Instinctively, he raised his sword.

"You will know how," She said, that sadistic smile still on, "_Parry!"_

And it had been the only warning she had given him as she tried to attack.

He managed to deflect the blow, but it had been loaded with strength and it had required him to use all of his own.

And the worst part was that Riven was already moving, ready to attack again.

* * *

Irelia and Sao watched as Riven ferociously attacked Orlon, her teaching method having done a one-eighty turn as she had no mercy left for the boy, striking him without caring whether she hurt him or not, probably not giving her all but doing enough that it was already offending just how much advantage she had over him.

And little did they know she was lacking coordination, for the alcohol had done its' desired effect.

One could only imagine just how strong she actually was.

They watched as Riven made him fall to the ground and circled her like a hungry shark preparing to attack a drowning swimmer.

* * *

"Stand up, _coward." _She said, kicking dirt in his direction. "Killing you like this would be a disgrace for both you and I," She inhaled deeply and, "_Stand up!" _She roared.

"Stop that—"

She kicked him on the side. "Shut the fuck up and stand up, _useless Demacian!"_

He grabbed the wooden sword and quickly stood up, roaring in fury as he tried to attack her, his wooden sword on fire as he lost control.

Riven evaded him successfully and dodged his attacks, before attacking him once his blade had turned to ashes.

Orlon ran towards the sword pile and picked another one up, trying to keep his composure so as not to burn that sword too.

He met her sword with his own and, taking advantage of the fraction of a second that it took Riven to move again, he threw his other hand out and fire came out of it in her direction.

Riven ducked right on time.

"Yes," She said, loud enough for him to hear. "Like that. Use your every resource as wisely as you can."

And before he could react to her praise, she attacked once more.

* * *

Irelia and Sao watched as Orlon's magic, raw, uncontrolled and undisciplined, became a part of the fight.

And everyone knew that a novice in magic was far more dangerous than a honed warlock, for it meant that their lack of control made them a million times more unpredictable.

But it didn't seem to bother Riven, not even a bare minimum.

She was dodging his every firey attack, meeting his sword with hers and challenging him to take it up a notch or fall short to her skill.

They watched for a while, in silence.

"I told you."

Irelia looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "She's a threat."

"Yeah, to your mental stability, maybe." Sao said, facing her, an angry glare on her pretty features.

"She's—"

"Training him the only way she knows how to," Sao said, "Noxian style."

"She should be abiding by our rules, not playing with her own." Irelia complained.

"She _tried _and people gave her Hell," Sao barked back, "So if people are going to give her shit for being who she is and nothing else, she might as well do whatever the fuck she pleases, Irelia." She rolled her eyes, "It's not like she's hurting anyone—"

"She's hurting that kid—"

"—without them consenting to her type of training."

Irelia's mouth, which had been open to retaliate, suddenly shut close.

Sao continued. "She tried and it didn't work, Irelia, just like it wasn't working with the Demacian kid, either. Let them try her way. It might be just what they need." She smirked as a thought came to her, "Maybe there's something Ionia can learn from Noxus."

Irelia glared at her at that. Sao merely shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave.

"Try to give it a thought, Captain." Sao said on her way out. "Maybe you've been too busy looking for that Noxian pride in her to notice you're being the proud one, now."

It wasn't okay with Irelia, to have her friend talking to her like that. "_Sao," _And there was a warning in her tone.

"There's no worse blind that the one who just doesn't want to see. _Stop being blind, _Irelia."

She could only stare after Sao as the woman walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Her eyes naturally went back to Riven and Orlon.

_So vicious. So wrong._

But then again, that wooden sword wasn't really going to his throat, his eyes, those places where it could _really _do some damage.

It was aimed at places where it would hurt like _Hell, _maybe even bruise, but not injure him too badly.

Irelia hated to hear the truth whenever she was on the wrong.

Still, if there was something people liked about her, was her ability to own her mistakes.

She took a seat by the balcony, letting out a sigh as she did so.

_This one mistake will take long for me to own._

_Ionian pride and all that._

Minimizing it eased her angry soul.

It didn't make her right, though.

She knew she wasn't right.

She'd have to see reason, eventually.

_No worse blind than the conscious one._


	7. The Games We Play

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

HELLO! I'm back from the dead (midterms)!

Sorry for the long wait, but life suddenly made me her bitch lmao.

Anyway, enjoy and leave your thoughts on the comments!

* * *

She didn't feel every tick of the clock anymore. If she thought about it, she couldn't recall the last time she had heard it.

Time slowly began to go fast for Riven. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, _months. _It all went by, so fast.

Things, once again, changed.

For good, this time.

Her new training with Orlon proved to be more effective than anything else they had tried before; the kid learned at an unmatched pace whenever he was faced with the right amount of stress.

His magic was far in more control than when they had started. She couldn't teach him how to handle his own power, but she could offer a space where he could explore it without feeling fear.

He became a better fighter, a better wrestler, a better archer.

A better soldier.

He actually presented a challenge for Riven, sometimes.

_Only sometimes. _She still crushed him if she wanted to do so.

So much had changed.

He wasn't a lanky, awkward thing anymore: he had gotten bigger.

Stronger.

More confident.

Borderline _cocky, _but in a good way. He deserved to be cocky.

It really made him shine in a new, different light, all this training with Riven bringing out more things in him than he would have ever imagined.

Riven could swear even his voice had gotten deeper, even if it was just a bit, not sounding as awkward and cracky as before.

Sao still tried to pair them up whenever she could, but often times she'd pair them with other people, if only to test Orlon's limits and give Riven an opportunity to torture someone else for a while.

Orlon would _always _defeat his partner, no matter who it was.

Only Zeylos managed to give him a _really_ rough time.

And it surprised her, if she was honest, the fact that he was so lucid and he could do the things he did, not because she doubted him but because he was sleeping so much more than usual, taking longer to wake up every morning.

Which reminded her of how, slowly but surely, that nightly attacker that would try to torture her in her sleep subsided.

It didn't mean she could sleep any better, though.

Nightmares didn't bother her anymore, but she doubted her mind was getting any better at keeping them at bay.

_Maybe _someone else _is helping me with that matter…_

And still, nightmares present or not, she couldn't sleep. She had always been a nightly creature, after all.

So she didn't sleep that much at night, but instead of it being due to threats to her own life, it was due to her own brain.

She'd wake up _every night _at the same time, as she'd do in Targon.

The first few times she did, she rolled around in bed, trying to go back to sleep.

It never worked, of course.

So after a week or two, she started getting up and, quietly, going out of the room, letting herself wander the Placidium's halls, much like she did with the Temple before.

Every time she sneaked out of the room, she would count every door that she saw as she walked.

There were uncountable doors _everywhere. _She wanted to open them all.

She didn't though.

She'd say it was out of respect for the Ionian people and how she shouldn't snoop around in the Placidium, her wandering being bad enough already.

She'd _never _admit it was due to fear of coming across Irelia, accidentally entering her room by chance.

So she walked around, minding her own business, finding peace in her quiet promenades, enjoying the only moments of solitude she'd have in that place, ignoring the primal impulse of satiating her curiosity by opening every door she saw as she made her way...

…until one night where her solitude was cut short by an accidental rendezvous.

She was walking around the strange halls, navigating them like a blindfolded man in a maze, when she realized she suddenly recognized the room she was in; something about the walls, the paintings hanging from them, the floor that was now wood instead of marble…

She knew that place. She had been in there, before.

She would have been mortified, had she known she had accidentally wandered into the eastern wing.

The Captain's wing.

She was trying to remember _why _she knew those halls when she saw a figure a few feet away, standing still.

Frozen in place at her sight, just like herself, also paralyzed.

The halls were only illuminated by the moonlight that entered through the high windows so they were fairly dark, the lack of proper lighting making it very hard for Riven to identify who that person —a woman —was, with the little light present only serving the purpose of outlining her figure, her body covered by what looked like a nightgown.

Her hair. Blue of sorts.

She could feel her ice-cold stare on her.

And that alone made Riven feel her blood running cold.

"What are you doing here?"

Judging by her tone, it was clear Irelia didn't like her presence around that wing of the Placidium, specially at night.

Not like Riven was enjoying the chance encounter, either.

"I was just walking around."

"Why?"

"I can't sleep."

"Why?"

Riven closed her eyes for a second. "I just can't."

She had _never _liked it when people asked about the topic, nevermind it was Irelia asking her this time.

Irelia watched her for a moment as Riven opened her eyes again and looked right back at her, the Ionian woman looking so out of place with that nightgown on instead of her usual attire, the feeling of her eyes on her making Riven picture an angry cat getting ready to scratch her face.

But then she heard Irelia sigh, "Me neither." She offered, replying to the question she knew Riven wanted to ask but would never utter.

"Do you want me to—"

"To what?"

"...to go back to my room?" Riven finished, taken aback by Irelia's sudden question, not even letting her finish her own sentence.

Irelia looked at her with wide eyes, "Oh," Before shaking her head a bit, "I guess you don't have to, if you don't want to." She had a question, then, "How long have you been walking around?"

Riven frowned. "As in, just now? Or how long in terms of how many nights?"

"Nights."

"It's been a month, now."

"Oh." She frowned, "I never saw you around before."

And Riven knew exactly what she was doing by saying that.

She knew Irelia was veiling a confession with a seemingly innocent statement, for what she had said meant she wandered around the Placidium at night, too.

It meant she didn't sleep much, either.

"I think this is the first time I walk around here. The Placidium is big and maze-like."

"How did you get here?"

Riven shrugged, "By walking around."

"By chance, then?"

Riven nodded. "By chance."

"Okay."

"Really, if you want me to leave then—"

"Were you doing something you shouldn't?"

"No—"

"Then it's fine." Irelia stated, "You don't have to leave if you don't want to."

Riven had never felt so awkwardly out of place in her life.

Ever.

"Okay," Riven said, nodding her head, slowly backing out—

"You've been doing well."

Riven froze.

"During training, I mean." Irelia added, glancing at her briefly, nodding her head. "You're doing a good job with Orlon."

Riven frowned. "You know him?"

Irelia nodded, "It's my job to know everyone who comes into this palace. He looks stronger." She went back to the previous topic.

"Yeah," Riven nodded, "We've been… working… out." She had a hard time not trailing off, feeling too uncomfortable with the circumstances she was under.

"Hard."

Riven nodded. "Hard."

Then silence—

Riven let out a yawn, "I should go to sleep." She bowed her head, "Goodnight, Captain."

"Yeah. Goodnight, soldier." Irelia replied with a faint voice.

And Riven quickly hurried out of the room.

Just to make sure she didn't come across Irelia again, at least for that night, Riven quickly went back to her dorm and got in bed, too wired to sleep but too uncomfortable to be out.

Eventually, nighttime worked its' magic on her, though.

* * *

She woke up a bit later than usual, surprised at how she had slept past her usual time.

Quietly, she called Orlon's name, which usually sufficed to wake the boy up.

She got out of bed and got dressed.

She turned to look at Orlon and realized he was still passed out.

Unusual.

"Orlon," She said in a hushed voice, getting near to the boy's body. "Wake up."

Still, no response.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, ready to shake him awake—

She caught sight of something on his neck. A dark spot on his skin.

She moved the covers away—

His whole body was covered in bruises and cuts, much like hers had been.

Nothing life-threatening, but definitely done by someone else.

He moved towards her, then.

Riven quickly washed away any emotion from her face.

"What's the matter?" He asked her in a groggy voice.

"You weren't waking up." She threw him his clothing, "Get out of bed, lazy ass. I'll wait outside."

She quickly got out of the dorm and, as soon as she was out of Orlon's sight, she slowly exhaled, letting herself use the brief seconds of solitude to analyze the newfound information.

Of _course _Zeylos wasn't targeting her anymore; he had found someone else to torture.

Someone not as experienced as her, someone more easily intimidated than her.

_Foolish me, thinking he had just gotten bored of it and not of the victim._

He was targeting the nicest one of the pack, now. The only one who had done nothing to deserve it.

She wanted to go in there and kill him.

She _would _go in there and kill him, but she had to be smart about it.

She'd have to think.

She quickly cleaned her face from her anger once more as Orlon opened the door, "Sorry about that," He said, his voice croaky with sleep as he yawned, "I don't know what's going on with my sleeping patterns."

Suddenly it all made sense in Riven's head. After all, how asleep you need your victim to be if you wanted to harm them without waking them up?

Definitely enough that you'd have to drug them up.

"Well, whatever it is, fix it _quick." _Riven replied in a bark, "Or next time I'll wake you up with a blade to your throat."

Orlon smirked at her, "Do that and you might end up bald with how badly I'm going to burn your hair."

She _knew _he was still intimidated by her; it was subtle, but it was still there and she could see the signs. Still, she had to admit, he was getting very good at hiding it and even answering back.

It made her chuckle. "Let's go."

* * *

They practiced bare-handed sparring until the others came out for training.

Their bodies were already sweaty and warmed up while their colleagues was dry and cold, still stiff, hard and slow with slumber's spell on it.

They didn't care, though. They kept fighting as they came.

They couldn't hear the other soldiers' comments on their fight as they kept going, uncaring for whatever they had to say, uncaring for the fact that their formal training was about to start.

Little did they know, they couldn't hear them not because of the adrenaline of the fight making them blind and deaf to their surroundings, but because they hadn't uttered a word.

Everyone was staring at them.

Everyone, in a complete silence.

They were watching because finally, after so long, Riven stopped holding back.

She was being merciless.

Orlon couldn't land a hit, while Riven landed all of hers, perfectly dodging or blocking his.

She pushed his guarded hands with her left as a distraction and brutally punched him on his uncovered side.

As Orlon bent in pain, she connected her shin to his head and brought him down to the ground with a quick roundhouse kick.

It didn't stop there.

She placed herself on top of him and punched him on the face, mercilessly.

Orlon quickly caught one of her fists and bucked his hips upwards towards her, making her fly away from him.

As she landed next to him on her back, he laid his chest against hers and hit her on her side as he brought his knees close to secure position.

Riven turned towards him and pushed away, but Orlon wasn't letting her out, his weight on top of her making it hard for her to escape.

He waited until she stopped moving so much and switched positions, placing his knee on her stomach, a simple technique she had taught him would burn any opponent out quickly as he found a way to attack.

She had never showed him how to escape it.

She placed a hand on his knee and another one on his foot, still on the ground, and pushed away, making him land on the ground next to her, face first.

She got on his back and placed her arm around his neck—

He rolled forwards to try and leave her behind, escaping her hold on him.

Riven kept her legs wrapped around his waist from behind and quickly found his neck again.

Without any hesitation, she locked her arms around his neck at an impressive speed and pressed hard—

He quickly tapped out, coughing in pain as she released him.

"That's what you get for doing the _knee-on-belly _tactique." Riven said as she breathed in and out, slowly getting up from the ground.

"You didn't like that one bit." Orlon teased through an itchy throat.

Riven smiled, "Do it again and I'll ignore the tap out."

They both turned around as they heard someone clear her throat.

"If you two finished, we would like to start today's training." Sao said in a serious way that Riven knew meant she was teasing, but nobody else could catch it yet.

"Sorry, Captain Sao." She quickly said, bowing her head with a smile on her face.

Sao raised her brow at her. "Forgiven. Now," She turned everyone, "As surprising as the coincidence may seem, we were actually going to practice hand to hand combat today. I'll form the pairs."

So she started pairing them and, as she did, the small teams started fighting one another.

She heard noise behind her and turned to look at Orlon and Riven, who were about to keep fighting, "Oh, no. You two go separated today."

"Sounds fair." Orlon said, letting Sao pair him with someone else for a while, happy to be away of Riven's fury for a while, sticking his tongue out at her as he ran away with some other guy while Riven flipped him off.

"Now you…" She mused out loud, trying to come up with the right sparring partner for Riven. "Who am I going to put you with?" She turned to the rest, as Riven stood by her side.

No one dared look at them, in fear of being paired with the Noxian.

Sao huffed a laugh. "Guess your little demonstration a minute ago scared them off."

"Could you do me a favor?"

Sao frowned at her: she hadn't expected the weird question . "What is it?"

Riven was staring at some girl, intently. "Could you pair me with _her?" _She asked, nodding her head once in the girl's direction.

Sao looked. As tall as Riven, with platinum blonde hair and a body complexion similar to the Noxian's, who was avoiding their eyes at all costs, if only to not be chosen to fight the crazy white haired warrior.

An equal of sorts, physically speaking.

"With Sanoh?" She saw Riven nod. "Why?"

Riven shrugged. "No apparent reason." She said, smirking a bit, feigning nonchalance, but the way Sao was looking at her meant she didn't buy it. so Riven shrugged with a fake look of hurt in her eyes and added, "I can't believe you'd think I'd have a secret motive. I'm disappointed at you, Captain."

"I can't trust a Noxian that easily," Sao half-joked, not really meaning it but knowing she couldn't trust Riven to really have no real reason to request a certain, specific sparring partner.

Riven sighed, "You will know my reasons when the time is right." She looked at Sao with sheepish eyes, "Is that a good enough answer for now?" And before the girl could complain, she added, "Because that's all I have to offer."

Sao sighed, too, "Fine." She turned to look at the free warriors. "Sanoh! You're up against Riven."

She hid the chuckle that came out of her mouth with her hand as she saw the novice swear under her breath, but oblige and come forwards to meet her new opponent.

Riven bowed her head a bit, offering her an open hand, watching the girl as she hesitantly shook it. "Hi, I'm Riven."

"Sanoh."

Judging by her tone, she was clearly not enjoying herself.

Riven guided her away from Sao, amongst the others, "Relax, I'm not going to bite your head off or something."

The girl made a bewildered face, "Are you sure? You looked close to doing that with that kid."

Riven smirked, "I train that hard with Orlon because we both agreed to it." She turned to face Sanoh, "I'm not going to do that with you if that's not what you're looking for."

And as she got on guard, as the other girl did it too, she noticed Sanoh looking at her with a clearly uncomfortable expression, doubt in her eyes, and offered her a warm smile.

"I promise," She mouthed, before nodding her head once.

It seemed to soothe the doubting girl a bit.

"Come on, start throwing," Riven offered, motioning with her hands for the girl to come forwards.

Sanoh obliged and slowly but surely started throwing jabs and crosses at her.

"Great," Riven let out as she received the punches with her guard, "Keep them coming."

She kept receiving the slow, soft blows time after time, pushing Sanoh to throw harder, faster, more daring attacks and cheering her whenever she did, encouraging them as she got more and more vicious with every try, a wild look on her eyes and a feral smile on her lips.

Eventually, whenever Sanoh overreached and offered an easy blow, Riven would punch her back, though her hits weren't hard at all, the Noxian barely touching the other woman.

"Don't get too excited and forget about your own defense." She warned, watching as the Ionian girl nodded her head and even murmured a small _thank you _for the advice, having realised the Noxian wasn't that bad after all.

Eventually, Riven grew quiet and flowed with the girl's attacks, defending herself, dodging occasionally, even retaliating sometimes.

There was something on her mind, though.

"Sanoh,"

The girl faltered as she moved, for Riven had said her name in such a way, so different to the banter-like teaching from before—

"I need to ask you a favor," She continued, her eyes intense with something Sanoh couldn't quite describe.

The girl felt a bit uncomfortable at the intensity. "What do you need?"

She couldn't tell her right there, at that moment. "Meet me after training, at lunch."

* * *

The room was quiet as a graveyard. Even the crickets seemed to be quieter than usual.

But nighttime never failed to see its' own routine happen, because just like every night, the woman located on the bed on top of Orlon's got up and slowly, silently, slumbery, she got out of the room to wander the palace.

Meanwhile, her friend was still asleep on the bottom bed.

_Perfect._

As usual.

The big, bouldering man got out of his own bed with a stealth so unlike him it seemed stolen from someone else, not making a sound as he got on the ground and sneaked his way towards the sleeping Demacian.

He got out a small flask he had and dampened his shirt with it.

He placed it on top of Orlon's mouth and nose and waited for a bit.

Once he was satisfied with how much time had passed, he released him.

And pulled out a switchblade.

His free hand grabbed the boy with a grip so strong it would bruise his skin and, slowly, he approached that cold, steel blade to his neck, hoping to carve something new into his flesh—

He felt desperation quickly taking over him as he suddenly couldn't breathe, slender yet strong arms around his neck forbidding him from doing so.

His attacker threw him to the ground and quickly climbed on top of him, pinning him to the ground easily.

"_Impossible—"_

Riven punched him on the jaw and made him quiet down.

She didn't do it to keep her endeavors silent, though.

The Noxian was angry enough at him for all of what he had done to her, for all the cutting and bruising he did to her body, but now that he was doing it to _Orlon…_

The rage, the _fury _she felt was unbearable.

She punched him relentlessly, not caring about the noise she made as slowly, but surely, the other sleeping soldiers started to wake up, not letting Zeylos escape her as he bridged his hips, trying to make her fall and failing miserably as she hold onto him tightly.

She heard them yell at her to stop, she felt them approach her, but one deadly look from —now greenish —red eyes was enough to quiet them down and make them stand back.

The distraction was enough for Zeylos to bridge his hips once more and finally push Riven away from him, quickly turning around to look at her.

The Noxian was a honed warrior, though, and as she fell on top of her head on the floor, she let her shoulders touch the ground too and balanced herself on them, before letting herself fall back on Zeylos.

As her legs found his back, she quickly wrapped them around him and started punching him again, not caring at how her forehead scrapped against the ground every time he moved around.

Eventually she found her ground over him and quickly crawled backwards, successfully latching onto his back.

As he was on all fours, she wrapped one of her arms around his neck and used her free hand to grab him by the hair.

She banged his head against the ground repeatedly and, once he didn't move around as much, exhaustion overcoming the adrenaline on his body, she used her legs to help herself turn him around and once again be on top of him.

She felt satisfaction upon seeing his bruised face, both of his eyes swollen and black with the fury of her hits, a cut on his cheekbone and a bloody nose.

But it was not enough.

She started punching him again, hit after hit, fist after fist, letting out her anger at him in the form of strikes for her, pain for him.

She felt the crunch of his nose breaking against her knuckles and kept going, not caring at how he didn't fight her as much anymore.

Suddenly she felt herself being held back, lifted from his broken body and held in the air by someone strong, someone big.

As she fought against whoever stopped her, she saw a woman stand in front of her and hold her hands back, a girl who looked like her standing behind her.

Her eyes couldn't focus on Sao, who was screaming at her face to stop, nor on Sanoh, who stood behind her with confusion and fear on her face, tears on her eyes.

Her eyes kept looking for Zeylos, her ears ringing with the deafening silence of her own rage, the world being so quiet she could hear the blood that rushed through her veins.

She wanted to kill him.

She was really close to doing it.

She could do it.

She kicked the man who held her from behind —Ban, she'd later find out —on his shins and, as his grip faltered, she released herself, quickly wringing herself free from his sister and landing on top of Zeylos, putting her thumbs on his eyes and—

"_Riven!"_

—And she froze in place, her hands as stiff as a rock, but not applying pressure on her foe.

Riven slowly looked up.

Irelia, still on her nightgown, was looking back at her, her typical frown in place, looking every bit like the authority she was, despite her dissonant attire.

Irelia looked at Ban and nodded her head in Riven's direction.

The man immediately grabbed her again and, the Noxian limp this time, took her out of the room.

Before she was out of the room, though, "Hey, Zeylos."

She knew he was still conscious, even if it was a little bit.

She knew he was listening.

She smiled, not caring whether he could see her or not as she stared at his ugly face from Ban's grip. "I kept my promise," She said, "I beat you up beyond recognition."

Her words made the man scream at her from his place on the ground, forcing Ban to get the grinning woman out of the room as the bloody pulp of a man that laid there on his own blood finally passed out.

She had played by her own rules and, in her head, she had won.

Nevermind what others thought.

The last thing Riven saw was Sao grabbing the fallen man and slowly lifting him from the ground before the door was closed on her face and it was only Ban, Irelia and herself.

_Game over._


	8. Instant Gratification

In out, in out.

Not a fly dared venture the air of her office.

In out, in out.

Not a sound, but that of Riven's own heavy breathing.

In out, in out.

There wasn't enough air inside that box made of walls to satisfy her lungs' needs.

In out, in out.

She didn't know how she had made it to Irelia's office.

In out, in out.

She tried to remember and it was all fuzzy in her mind, but she recalled something like Irelia commanding Ban to release her and then walking to her office, with her following behind like she knew she had to.

In out, in out.

Just like that. _That _easy.

In out, in—

She held it for a moment before—

—Out.

Her lungs were finally satisfied.

Now there was no more sound in Irelia's office as she sat on her chair, Riven on the one right in front of her, her breathing finally quiet.

Still, they didn't speak.

Riven's eyes were cast on the desk between them, somewhere to her side.

Irelia's, on the other hand, were on Riven's.

She had stared at her eyes ever since sitting down, watching how the green that had appeared on top of the red slowly faded away, revealing that crimson color once more.

She had seen the hair on Riven's head stand on end, before coming down to its' normal position once she regained control.

She had caught sight the woman's jaw subtly quiver, before the movement stopped as she relaxed and closed her mouth, breathing normally through her nose.

And now she simply watched her in silence, her elbows on her desk, her hands covering half her face as she rested her head on them.

"Do it."

The Noxian's demand was met with silence.

"Get over with it." She said, gazing at Irelia out of the corner of her eye. "Do what you've wanted to do ever since I laid a foot on your country and kick me out. Dishonor me, send me back home, shame my name, ridicule me."

She sighed and waited for Irelia to finally dictate the sentence, not looking at her while she waited for that calm silence of hers drove her insane.

Irelia obliged.

"From now on, you will not be staying with the Ionian rookies anymore. You are forbidden to sleep with them, train with them, invade their spaces."

Riven knew it was coming.

She felt Irelia shift on her seat a bit, then—

"You will be staying in the Captain's wing, in a private bedroom, all for yourself."

Riven's eyes darted towards Irelia, the Noxian having not expected that. "What—"

"You'll have your meals in the same dining room as them, but you will not stay in the soldiers' wing and you will definitely _not _train with them anymore, with Orlon being the only exception." Irelia leaned forwards, "You will sleep in your own bedroom and will serve as Orlon's personal trainer, except for the moments when you'll be training with the captains." Irelia got comfortable, ignoring Riven's look of confusion. "Orlon will remain in the soldiers' wing, though he will be allowed to be trained by you. Zeylos, on the other hand, won't have such luck."

"What will you do to him?"

Irelia raised a brow. "Me? To him? Nothing."

"Will he be kicked out—"

"He'll remain a soldier, but his bed will be a small wooden rowboat on the southern sea, with the waves eager to rock him into sleep." Irelia's gaze never left her own, "He will have to make it all the way from his new bed to the training camps before training starts every day by foot and foot alone and will be allowed to leave once his responsibilities are over, walking being his only means of transportation. Now," Irelia got up from her seat, "If you wouldn't mind following me, I'll show you your new room and go back to mine."

Riven watched her with a deep frown on her face, her head shaking from side to side. "I don't understand. Is this a joke of sorts?"

Irelia didn't seem like she was joking, though, "What part don't you understand?"

"All of it," Riven got up from her seat, "You're not punishing me."

Irelia's brows rose as she thought a bit about it. "Depends on what you understand by punishment, but not really."

"Are you rewarding me?"

"No. I'm simply moving you to another area."

"But Zeylos—"

"_Zeylos _has been _misbehaving." _Irelia interrupted her, icy eyes unreadable. "Both with Orlon and you."

"How do you—"

"I told you once, I believe," Irelia said, her voice as calm as her eyes, as mysterious as them. "That it is my job to know everyone in here and whatever's going on with them, at all times."

_That awfully awkward_ _encounter with her. _"Yeah, you did."

"I've known about Zeylos' misconduct for a while—"

"Then why didn't you do anything about it?"

Irelia watched Riven.

There was a _certain _accusatory tone in her voice.

She chose not to address it.

"Because I can't take up arms against someone in a scenario like this one without a formal accusation. You chose not to say anything about it _despite having had the chance to do so _and therefore I couldn't act until it escalated, which it did."

Riven's eyes widened.

_Sao. When she asked me about it._

"Do you understand now?" Irelia asked her, making the wide-eyed Noxian nod. "Perfect. Now, if you'd be so kind as to follow me…"

Riven silently waited for Irelia to open the door to her office and walk out after her, navigating the corridors only one step behind the Captain.

"Sao told you about it, didn't she?"

"No."

The reply took Riven by surprise; she had been certain the other captain had a hand on Irelia knowing about Zeylos' behavior. "Then how—"

"I've been watching you train." Irelia confessed, halting her walking only to turn around and look at her, Riven almost bumping against the Ionian. "I've been watching you and Orlon training more than anyone else, starting before sunrise and finishing near midnight. I've seen him use his power on you and I've seen you tap into yours." She did not miss how Riven gulped at her observation, "And when we crossed paths that one night, I did see your arms, cut and blackened with bruises." Her gaze relaxed a bit, a mercy of some kind, "Sao _did _tell me she believed Zeylos had been abusive to some of his peers, but she had kept your identity a secret, for she believed it was _your right_ to do what you deemed fit with Zeylos and what he was doing to you. In conclusion, she didn't tell me too much but I'm smart enough to put two and two together."

Irelia stared at her hard for a minute, before finally turning and walking again. "Sao wanted to let you kill him." She told the Noxian in a sudden confession, "She believed it was your right to punish him whatever way you wished; since he was not playing like a Ionian, she thought it would be right for you to do the same and play by the Noxian rules with him." She moved her head around a bit, trying to ease the tension contained on her shoulders, her neck letting out small popping sounds as she did so, a small sigh escaping her lips. "She ran into that room to stop you _only _because she _knows_ she _has to, _like Ban_. _If she hadn't done it and she had let you do your thing, she would have been in trouble." She raised a brow, "_I _would have been her trouble. You see, she may believe you had the right to forget about how we do things around here so that you can do them your own way and in this one special occasion, I'm going to stand by her and say that she's right, but _she herself _doesn't have the choice to just stop abiding by her own people's rules. She _had _to get in there and _had _to try and stop you, no matter how badly she didn't want to."

Riven nodded her head, not having thought about it all for she had had no time to do so, but at the same time lacking any kind of judgement towards her blonde friend's behavior, for she didn't think anything about it and didn't really question her attitude. "And you're telling me this because…"

"Because I don't want you to think Sao turned her back on you, considering she looks like the only friend you've got in here, along with Orlon."

Riven's brows rose a bit.

_Everyone in here seems to think I lack common sense._

"I would have never thought that, Captain." Riven simply commented, "I would never question Captain Sao's decisions for I know she has a job to do." She shrugged, "I didn't take it personal." She almost laughed then, "I didn't even have time to take it personal."

Irelia nodded her head, "Good—"

"Besides, Sao and Orlon aren't my only allies in here, I think."

The words had escaped her mouth before she even had the chance to stop them.

She prayed Irelia wouldn't ask—

"No?"

_Oh, fuck._

_Well. Might as well just say it._

"No. Correct me if I'm wrong, Captain," Riven ventured, gathering her courage for her next words, "But I _do _believe your attitude towards me has changed _favorably." _She dared, looking at Irelia only to find her staring right back.

Irelia studied her, hard.

_She didn't say _friends. _She said _allies.

Riven felt how her breath got caught in her throat as she saw the shadow of a _smirk _on Irelia's lips.

"You're not necessarily wrong, there."

Riven had to fight the smile that threatened to appear on her lips.

"Don't get too excited about it, though."

Riven wondered how on Runeterra the other woman had guessed her emotions.

_Guess she really _is _better than me in some aspects._

_Superior._

They reached a wooden door and Irelia opened it, revealing a rather luxurious room on the other side; a double sized bed with soft white pillows and smooth, deep red blankets, with a wardrobe filled with Ionian clothing to its' side, going from simple day-to-day clothes to heavy training ones. On the wall opposite to the bedroom, a vanity on a side of the room and a desk near a humongous window that overlooked the southern side of Ionia on the other, a door in between them that the Noxian could only guess took her to a private bathroom and, at the end of the bed, pretty much in the middle of the room, an open chest, which Riven was surprised to see contained the armor she had arrived with and her broken sword, too.

"Ban brought your stuff here from the rookies' bedroom while we talked," Irelia explained before the Noxian had the chance to ask, "I commanded him to."

Riven walked into her new room, marveled at the sight of it all, "All of this just for me?" She questioned out loud, unsure of whether it was true or not.

"Just for you." Irelia replied from her place at the room's door.

Riven felt she silky smooth bedsheets before turning to look at Irelia with a frown on her face, "Are you sure you're _not _rewarding me? Because this surely feels like a reward, Captain."

Irelia's cold gaze seemed warmer, though maybe it was due to the dim lighting. "It's not a reward, but you're free to look at it in such a way." Her eyes quickly darted to a clock that was hanging from one of Riven's new room's walls, "Considering it's _very _late, I'll head to my own room now."

"Where are you staying?"

_And yet again, word hemorrage._

She wondered whether she should worry about how she blurted her thoughts out around the Ionian.

"Walking out of this room, I'm two doors to the left. Walk past two and the third door you see will be mine." Irelia responded.

_And yet again, she answers._

She wondered whether she should worry about how Irelia answered all her blurted thoughts.

Riven nodded her head, "Okay, thank you."

And they both were unsure what Riven was thanking the Captain for.

Still, Irelia responded, "You're welcome." And, nodding her head once, "Goodnight," She closed the door and was out.

Riven sighed as the last bits of adrenaline escaped her body and the Noxian allowed herself to fall back on the bed.

She couldn't help the groan that escaped her mouth as she felt just how soft the mattress was.

_Damn you, Captain, for pampering me._

And without further warning, she fell asleep without talking to her nightly Goddess, for the first time in a while.

_Damn you, Captain, for whatever Hell you're making me walk into._

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello! Long delay for me, I know, but I got into Killing Eve AND College was kicking my butt so you can only imagine... the mess... my mind has been.

Also, a bit short? But I promise this is getting interesting... I hope lmfao

ANYWAY lemme know what u think!


	9. Threats And Promotions

Things, apparently, couldn't stay in an unaltered state for too long for things had, once more, changed for Riven.

This time, due to Irelia's very personal intervention.

She woke up rather late the morning after her encounter with Zeylos; not late enough that she was missing training, but not early enough to train Orlon.

She jumped out of the bed, realizing she had fallen asleep on top of it and got dressed in the blink of an eye, sprinting her way to the training camps.

Orlon had been waiting there for her, the Demacian regarding her with a surprised look as she made her way towards him. "I was starting to wonder whether you were still alive or not, considering you were _dragged _out of the room by Captain Ban."

"I'm alive," Riven replied as she reached him, "Much to my surprise."

Orlon was frowning, "What happened last night?" He asked her, confused about the situation as he had been drugged and knew only what the other soldiers were willing to tell him in the morning, when he asked around where Riven was.

Riven _glared _at him. "When were you going to tell me about _this?" _She asked him, moving the collar of his robe away in a harsh movement, displaying a bruise she knew he had on there.

He pushed her hand away instinctively, protecting himself from the pain of someone touching his harmed body. "Tell you _what?" _He asked her, genuinely. "That I hurt myself in my sleep?"

Riven's bravado faltered, "You mean to tell me you don't know where all of these came from?"

Orlon's face was contorted in a worried expression as he shook his head no, making Riven sigh.

She calmed down. "You don't _hurt yourself _in your sleep. It was _Zeylos _who did it." She watched the boy as he inspected his own body with a bit of shock in his eyes, "He would drug you with something so that you wouldn't wake up and then he'd do whatever he pleased to your body." And, once she saw the question that burned in his eyes, she added, "I know because he would do the same to me, but he stopped once he realized it would have no effect on me."

His eyes were wide, "It had _no effect _on you?"

She shrugged, "I didn't care enough to do something about it."

"But you _did _care enough when he did it to me?"

And there was an accusatory tone to his words.

Riven knew he was mad that he didn't know about Zeylos abusing Riven's body.

He was even madder that she hadn't done anything about it, let alone tell him.

Riven's eyes were intense, "I don't take things like this lightly, Orlon." She started, "I _could _have told you or the Captains, but I wanted to take care of the matter myself. I _could _have attacked him one of those nights, but he _could _have claimed that all the bruises and cuts on my body were put there out of self defense. It is no accident that he didn't drug me but he did with you; he _wanted _me to react, probably in the hopes of getting me kicked out of Ionia. I _had _to strategize to get him but then he turned to the _one person _that I would _not _tolerate having him harm."

She sighed once more, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with her hands. "I wanted to hurt him, _badly, _but I couldn't do it until I had a very good reason to or, worst case scenario, until I exploded." She continued, "Maybe I could have had a better explanation, but I couldn't wait until then because I couldn't take it anymore: I did, in fact, explode." She looked at him, "You're my _friend _and I don't want _anyone _hurting you, specially if you don't deserve it."

Orlon was watching her, that anger that had slowly built up slowly dissipating. "Well, he _did _achieve what he wanted, then." When Riven frowned at him, he raised a brow, "He got you to react."

Riven smirked, "Yes, but it didn't go as he wanted it to."

"I woke up and he wasn't there, this morning."

Riven shook her head. "Captain Irelia punished him for his behavior by kicking him out of the dorms. Now, he sleeps on a boat in the middle of the Southern Sea."

Orlon couldn't help the laugh that came out of his mouth at Riven's words. "And what about you? Which was your punishment?"

"Surprisingly so, I wasn't punished."

Orlon frowned. "No?"

Riven shook her head. "I was moved to a private bedroom in the Captain's wing." She nodded her head at Orlon's wild look of shock, "_And _I must train with the Captains, now, though I can still train you in our free time."

Orlon frowned at her, turning to look as Sao and Ban slowly made their way towards them and the rest of the soldiers, who were a few meters behind where Riven was standing. "I'm guessing now is when we split, right?"

"You're guessing _wrong, _Orlon." Sao replied before Riven could open her mouth, "There has been a change of plans and now Riven will be joining Ban and me as an instructor, helping us demonstrate activities and actually going through the drills with us."

And Riven froze when Sao stepped closer to her instead of walking straight, side by side with her brother, only to grab her by the arm and bring her ear closer to her mouth as she whispered, "I'll give you a challenge to keep up with, _Noxian," _Before releasing her, winking at her and walking back to her brother, "Captain Irelia's direct orders!" She let out loud as an explanation to the sudden change of course, still walking away with her brother by her side, leaving Riven and Orlon behind.

Riven stared after her, blinking out of her trance once she heard Orlon, standing behind her, say, "...Okay, what the Hell was that?"

A smile slowly crept up Riven's lips. "A friendly threat," She looked at him over her shoulder. "Training shouldn't be as easy, now." She turned to follow the Captains, "Let's go."

"Listen up, soldiers!" Ban said out loud, making everyone quiet as they gathered, "After yesterday's _shenanigans, _there's been a few changes to our procedures."

"There has been a change on the ranks, so, from now on," Sao continued for him, "Riven will be working with _us _as a trainer," She allowed her eyes to roam everyone's reactions, surprise evident on everyone's faces, "So if there are any questions that you would like to ask us, you can also ask her."

"Riven," Ban called her, "Come here."

So Riven did, quickly jogging her way towards them, standing up to Sao's free side.

And as she did so, she heard Ban's booming voice again, "Oh! Look who has finally appeared!" He was smiling, though it was a cruel thing as he said, "Good morning, sleepyhead! I'm glad to see you decided to join us."

Zeylos was sluggishly making his way towards the rest of the soldiers, dark circles under his eyes as he pretty much dragged his feet on the floor.

"Captan Ban has _addressed you, _Soldier." Sao barked in a rather rough tone.

It made Zeylos look at her. "Yes, Captain." He turned his head to Ban as he finished his trek, "Good morning, Captain Ban." And he realized he should maybe greet Sao too, so he added, "Good morning, Captain Sao."

"You should greet the newly promoted Captain too, Zeylos."

At the man's words, Zeylos' face turned into one of confusion, but as he eyed Ban, he noticed a third figure standing with them on his peripheral vision.

He froze when he saw it was Riven.

Riven was frowning in confusion too, though.

"Excuse the ignorance," She started, making Ban and Sao look at her, "Am I the _newly promoted Captain?"_

Sao chuckled, "Why do you think you're _training them with us, _now? Because we _need your help?" _She scoffed while she shook her head. "Don't give us so little credit, _Captain."_

"Which reminds me," Ban said, quietly sparing Zeylos from having to bow down to Riven, "_Everyone _should address her as Captain Riven, now." He narrowed his eyes, "She's on the same level as Sao and I are, do not forget about it." He let out in a lower voice, as if he was talking more to himself than to the crowd.

"Okay!" Sao clapped her hands together, breaking the confusing spell that the declaration of Riven's new rank put on everyone, "Time to warm up. Run for ten minutes, _now!" _And she watched how they spurred into action, Zeylos and Orlon included, before turning to Riven, calling over her shoulder, "Ban, keep an eye on them," Knowing very well her brother was walking away, his eyes on the moving crowd, leaving them alone.

"Did Irelia really _promote _me?"

"Answer me this; where are you staying now?"

Riven's eyes unfocused, "The Captain's wing."

"So you don't share your room anymore?"

Riven shook her head. "No."

"And what are your new tasks?"

"Training the soldiers."

"And _who _train the soldiers?"

"Ban and you."

"And what are we?"

Riven rolled her eyes, already getting the message. "Captains."

"So what would that make you, by default?"

"A Captain."

Sao nodded her head. "Congratulations! You know how to do basic math."

"Oh, _shut up." _She said, a certain playful tone on her voice as she shoved Sao with only a bit of malice, raising her hands when she saw Sao's offended expression, "Considering we're on the same rank now, I'm allowed to do that."

Sao slowly nodded her head, chuckling, "So you're slow to learn the theory, but quick to put it to practice, huh?"

"Exactly." Riven grinned.

And before she could enjoy her small victory, distracted by the thrill of the threat in Sao's eyes, Riven missed how the Ionian grabbed the Noxian's right shoulder with one hand, her left wrist with her other and, as she pushed her shoulder and pulled her wrist, she swept the white haired woman's foot with her own.

And thus she tripped and fell, no real effort coming from Sao, who still held her wrist while Riven's back hit the ground, a confused look on her eye as she looked up at Sao when she said, "Let me tell you it goes both ways and, unlike the rookies," Still holding Riven's hand up, she placed one of her legs behind it and used it to push Riven's elbow forward while her hands brought her wrist backwards, a makeshift armbar forcing Riven's joints and making her hiss, "I am no novice in the art of making others suffer."

And despite the pain, Riven _smiled. _"_Good."_

Something about discovering Sao was actually rather sadistic made the Noxian inside of her feel very stimulated.

_Too _stimulated.

So much that she didn't feel the eyes on them.

Sao did, though. "What are you all looking at?" She questioned, her own eyes moving towards the crowd that was _jogging, _not _running. _"Speed up!"

They suddenly did, afraid of having been caught.

Sao dropped Riven's hand and turned, moving away from her as Riven quickly got on her feet. "Do warm yourself up too, Noxian." Sao said, "Ban decided to act only as a _teacher _today so he won't be doing any kind of sparring with us, but I haven't made my way here running today for _nothing." _She looked at Riven, turning to watch her, "I have energy to spare and you'd better make me use every little bit of it."

Riven cleared herself from the dust that hung to her previously clean robes. "I think I've been warmed up just now," She commented, rolling her shoulders and moving her legs around a bit despite it all. "I'll make sure you're tired by the time I'm done with you."

Had she meant the innuendo or was it all just a happy accident?

Former option or latter, the hidden implications hadn't ran unnoticed by the blonde, who smirked at it but decided not to acknowledge it. Not directly, at least, as she cheekily replied, "I look forwards to that."

"Alright, newbies!" Ban roared, pointedly ignoring his sister and the Noxian. "I want you all sprinting now!"

His voice brought Riven back to reality for a second, bringing her out of the trance Sao had put her in.

Not for long, though, as she noticed Sao started running, too, the order to follow not so subtly placed in her eyes.

So Riven did.

Followed.

* * *

She had been right.

Training wasn't easy anymore.

It had evolved. It presented a challenge, now.

A threat, even.

It made the blood in her veins run hot in a pleasant way, electric currents that had been desperate to find an outlet finally reaching out and landing on its' mark.

Only the mark brings lightning with it, too, feeding electricity right back to her and recycling the process.

The drumming of her heartbeat as she's pushed not necessarily to her limits, but to that level where she has to actually put some work into it, do an effort of sorts.

She had missed it.

She liked it too much, already.

Sao and her had been going at it for a while, now.

While the trainees did some light sparring, the Ionian Captain had quite literally thrown herself at the Noxian warrior, catching Riven by surprise and actually managing to land a punch.

Right hook.

Riven's left cheek.

Absolutely _everyone_ had stopped what they were doing to _watch._

And that had started the seemingly endless round of fighting between the two women.

Riven had given her only a few seconds before she started to respond to her aggressions, landing as many hits as her opponent, even more.

She knew most of her body would be bruised by the day after that but the adrenaline coursing through her was enough that she didn't feel it just yet; the pain, the exhaustion, the breathlessness.

She was too busy dealing with Sao to acknowledge any of that.

The blonde was _good, _Riven could admit. Good enough that she forced Riven to try, and try _hard._

It was the first time since arriving in Ionia —even considering Orlon's improvement —that she had to try hard.

But not her _hardest._

At the end of the day, she knew she could always defeat Sao. She _did_ challenge her to actually fight, but she could always fall back onto her fighting patterns and tactics, use them to _win._

She did not challenge her to think of something new, to be creative, come up with something and _learn._

It was a challenge, but by no means was it a lesson.

So she followed her patterns and feinted a dash to the right, only to actually move to the left, getting close to an overextended Sao and placing her arm on the woman's shoulders, bringing her leg behind hers and pushing, at the same time as she brought her leg back.

Sao fell to the ground.

Before she finished landing, though, Riven caught her arm and immediately allowed herself to fall with Sao, too, her legs trapping that arm she still clutched.

She smirked as Sao quickly tapped out, her arm already in too much pain as Riven brought her hips up to reinforce the quick armbar she had trapped the Ionian in.

She released her at the feeling of the desperate tapping and rolled backwards over her head, getting away from the woman, landing on her feet and getting up, offering Sao a hand.

The Ionian took it. "I hate you and your stupid grappling technique."

The cocky smirk on Riven's face wouldn't leave for a while. "What you hate is that my grappling technique is good enough to make you tap out."

Sao rolled her eyes. "Shut your mouth." She smirked, then, "At least you'll have something to remember me by tomorrow when you have a black eye."

Riven glared at her, no malice behind the gesture as she started to feel the pain on her right eye. "I will make you pay for this."

Sao grinned at her. "I can't wait."

And Riven would have replied to that, would have tried to take it up even more, but she saw the way Sao's eyes wandered to her right, grew in size a bit, saw how she took a step backwards and bowed her head a bit.

So she turned.

Irelia was looking at her.

Riven instinctively did the same as Sao, except she added a, "Captain," At the end.

Irelia nodded her head once and Riven saw how Sao stood up straight once more, so she copied her. "I came to see how you were doing."

And her eyes were on Riven's.

It was too much attention from the one person who had denied her it for too long.

"We may have gotten a bit carried away with training," Sao replied for her and Riven was suddenly grateful that she was there, "But we were about to take a small break."

Irelia's head moved in a positive motion once more. "Good." She said, her expression neutral as ever, "Make it longer than usual, if necessary," She said, before turning and making her exit.

But Sao was quick, shooting her question before she left, "Why longer?"

Irelia looked over her shoulder. "Because I'm joining the training after it."

And Riven's mind blanked.

She stared after Irelia as she left, but she wasn't focusing on the image, nor the sound anymore.

The concept of fighting Irelia pulled her into a trance so quickly she wasn't aware of it.

Her eyes unfocused, her mind white noise as her nerves fired up—

She flinched as she felt Sao's hand on her shoulder and fought back against herself, her instinct, her very nature, that roared at her to grab that hand of hers and break it, an automatically settled, immediate response for any unwanted contact.

"Sorry," Sao noticed her flinching, but not her inner turmoil. "I just saw you go somewhere else there for a minute."

Riven tried to refocus on her face, her concerned eyes. "I'm okay," She announced, "I was just thinking."

_Thinking very hard about not thinking._

"Come on," Sao patted her back, not pushing the topic anymore, "Let's go grab a bite."

Riven didn't find it in herself to tell her that she wanted to throw up, instead.

So Riven did, once more.

Followed.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Hello folks! Sorry for the long wait. Know that I ain't a quitter and this shall continue. This chapter was going to be longer, actually but I've decided to split it here and leave what's next for the next one.

Cheers!


	10. Moves And Countermoves

Every second felt like it moved onwards way too fast and, at the same time, way too slowly.

They were already back in the training camps and she felt like time wasn't passing, just like it passed quickly enough that she couldn't savor her last minutes before having to face Irelia again.

She didn't want to do it.

She would die before showing it, but she was terrified of facing Irelia.

Not because of _Irelia _per se. She realized she couldn't recall what Irelia's fighting was like when faced _against _her, but she didn't mind that at all.

What terrified her were the what ifs.

The what if fighting Irelia spurred something inside of her that she had fought very hard to put down.

The what if fighting Irelia woke up the demons she had worked so hard to put to sleep.

She felt like she was doing so much better, it made her terrified of ever going back to stage one.

Because it would be harder to progress if she did.

Because she didn't have Diana with her to help her through every step.

And neither Sao nor Orlon understood her well enough to help her out yet.

If what she feared did happen, then she would have to face it _alone _and she knew she couldn't do that.

She had tried for so long and had failed every time.

She sighed, trying to ease her anxiety a bit, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck.

Amidst the deadly silence of the wait —nevermind that people around her were idly chatting and she couldn't hear them —, she heard the quiet footsteps she had come to identify as Irelia's.

"Alright, people," The Captain of the Guard said, referring to both rookies and captains, "Pretend I'm not here." She motioned at them all to keep training, a very subtle smirk on her face. "Go about your day, come on."

Sao frowned at her, rather confused about her friend's actions. "Very well." She said anyway, shrugging her shoulders a bit. "Soldiers! Over there you'll notice there are pieces of armor for each of you," She pointed at a place to their left, where different kinds of plates were piled up, right next to a different kind of pile, made of swords, axes, knives and then some. "Armor yourself and grab your weapon of choice. Today we'll take training one step further."

Riven remained immobile right next to her, watching with unfocused eyes as the soldiers moved.

She snapped out of her trance when she noticed Orlon didn't grab any weapon, unlike the rest, who weaponized themselves to the teeth.

She raised a brow in silent question, but said nothing about it.

_Bringing fists to a knife fight? Bold. Reckless._

She noticed Zeylos had picked up an enormous, double edged, two-handed battleaxe.

She scowled.

_Idiot._

She didn't like battleaxes.

She liked them even less when they were held by big, brute men.

It made it easier for her mind to wander.

She felt a set of cold eyes on her and she didn't have to turn her head to see who their owner was. "You should do the same as them." She heard Irelia command.

_Command. _Because the _should _was actually a _must, _veiled as a friendly advice.

But they were not friends. At least, not yet.

They were mere allies.

Riven gulped.

"Yes, Captain." Sao replied, and apparently Irelia had meant they _all _should do the same.

Seeing Sao and Ban move towards the piles of steel spurred Riven into action and she moved along with them, but her mind was definitely somewhere else, still pondering _what ifs._

_What if fighting her takes me back to that night._

_What if fighting her brings the ghosts back._

_What if it wakes the voices up again._

Because she still heard them, sometimes, but they were nothing but echos, impressions of her imagination, like when you think you've heard someone call your name.

It was way worse before, with those demons materializing in front of her and taking her away, back in time.

One look at the armor on the ground and she could tell it was too stiff, too uncomfortable for someone as mobile as her, who was constantly jumping around and needing complete control of her own body and limbs.

She grabbed arm guards for her forearms and greaves for her legs, before placing a shoulder plate on her left shoulder and gauntlets on her hands, armoring herself in the same fashion as she had followed before.

She was so focused on not being focused on Irelia, she completely missed the way those cold blue eyes followed her around, analyzing her every action.

She got to the pile of weapons and looked for swords.

She felt rather uncomfortable on her own skin as she realized there were broadswords scattered around, too.

She knew only one person who's preferred weapon was a broadsword.

Herself.

And they had never trained with broadswords before, so either Ban or Sao wielded them too, or they were there only for her to use.

She considered grabbing a normal one and calling it a day.

She would do that.

She moved towards the smaller ones, before Sao called her name, making her turn to look at the already armored woman.

Her eyes landing on the broadsword she was holding out for her to grab.

"You used to wield one like this one, if I remember correctly."

Riven wanted to say _No, not at all, not like this one._

Because hers was nothing like that steel, simple-looking one.

Still, that was not what Sao had meant.

She felt the impulse to deny ever wielding a broadsword, telling her that she actually wielded smaller blades, but she knew she wouldn't be fooling anyone.

She knew Sao knew better.

So she offered the blonde a small smirk, "Thanks," she replied, before grabbing the steel blade and weighing it on her hands.

_Comfortably heavy._

_Uncomfortably reminiscent._

"Very well, soldiers!" Ban roared, and Riven noticed he had a humongous warhammer hanging idly from one of his hands, a feat which spoke to his strength, "Get in pairs and start swinging at each other, _slowly." _There was the tint of a warning on the way his voice got lower on his last word, "You could actually harm each other, now."

"No weapons, Orlon?" Sao added after her brother's words, a smallsword strapped to her left side and a one-handed war axe on her right; light weapons for swift moving, Riven guessed.

The boy shook his head.

"Why not?"

Orlon's head turned in Irelia's direction. "Captain Sao commanded us to grab our _weapon of choice, _my Captain." He started explaining. "I don't really feel comfortable with any of those weapons."

Irelia nodded her head once. "Okay, what do you feel comfortable with?"

He shrugged, "If I could wield magic, then I'd feel comfortable with that. If not—"

"Wield your magic, then."

His eyebrows rose. "Are you sure, Captain—"

"If any of you in here have any sort of magic in you, feel free to use it to your advantage." Irelia replied in a loud voice, cutting him off. "These abilities are a part of you and you should _exploit _them, not _hide _them."

Blue eyes scanned the crowd of soldiers, watching as some of them seemed to relax a bit, while others grew a bit more nervous.

The unexpected rule change had given them all a certain kind of whiplash with how it changed everything, it seemed.

Irelia found it amusing.

As they got in the same pairs they had been in before their training break, Riven noticed how a few of the soldiers got rid of certain pieces of armor, even a weapon if they had more than one.

Only Orlon remained unarmed, though.

She raised both of her eyebrows at such information.

_Bold move, indeed._

And it had been a bold move, true, but it had also been the right one.

It quickly became evident just how much advantage he could get out of using his own resources.

Training was following the same setup as before: after a certain period of time, Ban would order the soldiers to switch partners and keep fighting with their new opponent, a simple yet effective method to train against different body types and fighting techniques.

But after they switched opponents three times, Irelia spoke up. "Alright, that's enough." She said out loud in her leader's voice, making everyone suddenly stop, watching her as she made her way to the middle of the training clearing. "I want you all to stand in a circle around me."

Once they did her bidding, she nodded her head once. "Orlon," She said, turning and looking at the boy, knowing exactly where he was. "Come here."

Orlon gulped, suddenly nervous due to being personally addressed by Irelia herself, but obeyed nonetheless, jogging his way towards her.

Irelia watched him, "Sanoh," She called, turning and letting her eyes land on the girl. "Here." She said, with one motion of her head.

Sanoh quickly made her way towards them.

"We'll train in a competition fashion," Irelia explained. "Those inside the circle will fight until one loses, either due to tapping out, losing consciousness or a would-be-fatal blow being dealt. The winner stays in, the loser gets out and is replaced by a new contestant. We will repeat this process until all warriors in the circle have fought at least once." Her eyes moved from the Demacian boy to the Ionian girl. "Orlon, Sanoh, you two go first. Remember; there's no shame in surrendering, not even in losing. We're here to learn and there's much more to be learned from mistakes than from flawlessness." Her eyes grew cold as she added, "What _is _shameful, though, is forgetting this is _training _and purposefully trying to really hurt a training partner."

They all knew it was directed to Zeylos.

Nobody dared address it, though.

Irelia slowly walked her way to the circle of people. "Are you two ready?" She called as she made her way towards the Captains.

Coming to stand next to Riven.

Orlon and Sanoh nodded their heads.

Irelia mimicked the movement. "_Fight!"_

Riven did her best to focus on the fight and not on the woman to her left.

Sao, on her right, eyed Irelia. "Making them train like we do, huh?"

The ghost of a smile lingered on Irelia's lips. "Let's see if your rookies like how we actually do it instead of your tame ways."

"Shut up, _tame ways," _Sao replied, mocking the woman while she made a face.

Irelia huffed a laugh.

Riven's eyes wouldn't move from Sanoh as she quickly covered herself with her shield, Orlon's fireballs giving her a rough time, the Noxian doing her best to let the images in front of her drown out Sao and Irelia's banter.

It was all in vain, she quickly realized. Both things: her attempts to ignore the Captain of the Guard, for she couldn't stop replaying that small chuckle in her head, and Sanoh's attempts to defeat Orlon, for he had just set her on fire, quickly making water come out of his hands, successfully putting the inferno out before any real damage could be done.

"_Time!" _Irelia roared, "Orlon wins. Sanoh, you're out. Next..."

And warrior after warrior, Riven watched as Orlon defeated them.

Irelia called Zeylos' name at some point and Riven couldn't help but flinch.

The blue haired woman noticed it.

"Relax," She whispered, her mouth suddenly near Riven's ear as she leaned into her, "He must have learned the lesson by now. If not, I'll teach it to him _personally."_

The low voice of the Ionian leader did nothing to ease her soul, doing quite the opposite and setting all of her nerve-endings on fire instead.

Finding herself mute, Riven decided to reply to the unexpected kindness with a simple nod of her head.

She found herself surprised at how Zeylos moved towards Orlon and _bowed. _

Orlon seemed to be in shock, too, for it took him a few moments to bow back.

"_Fight!"_

Zeylos' hands were both on his weapon as he circled Orlon, waiting for the mage to attack first.

Orlon threw a fireball at him.

Zeylos dodged with a forwards roll and lunged.

Riven's eyebrows rose as she saw Orlon receive a headbutt, the Demacian boy being forced to move backwards so as to avoid the battleaxe that swung for him.

"Did you see that?" Sao questioned as they watched them battle.

Riven nodded her head. "He dodged by going forwards instead of sideways," She reasoned out loud, "It's a dangerous move, for there's less chance of missing an attack against an enemy who advances towards you rather than to your sides, but a clever one. Definitely a sound decision against Orlon."

"He's the first warrior to reach Orlon's close quarters."

"He knows Orlon's magical attacks aren't fast enough and that there's a window of time between one attack and the next one." Riven mused, "He used that window to approach him."

Sao was smirking at the fight in front of her. "He's been paying attention."

Riven nodded her head. "That he has."

The Demacian boy evaded a slashing motion and took advantage of Zeylos' rather slow movements to place his hands on the Ionian brute's.

Before Zeylos could shake him off, he heard the crack of thunder and screamed in pain as Orlon electrocuted him, forcing him to release his weapon, letting it land on the ground with a quiet thud.

To her right, Riven could hear Ban hissing, imagining the pain Zeylos was feeling.

But before Orlon could land a hook on him, the brute dodged by moving his head out of the way, before coming back full force and headbutting the Demacian boy again.

The fight continued, both men using only their fists and legs to get the other.

They moved away from the Ionian's axe as they did, the man knowing Orlon would defeat him if he gave him room to attack first, delivering attack after attack instead, advancing on him slowly.

Orlon managed to duck before a violent kick got him on the side of the head and the momentum made Zeylos end up with his back against the Demacian.

He pushed both of his palms against the bigger man's back and sent him flying with a gust of wind.

As he landed, Orlon summoned fire again.

He threw his fireball with all of his strength and watched as Zeylos, still on the ground, grabbed his battleaxe, quickly got to his feet and, using the flat surface of his axe's steel, _batted _the fireball, successfully redirecting it towards him.

Orlon quickly ducked, letting the fireball continue on it's path.

And landing on a zoned out Riven.

The battle seemed to stop for a second as they all watched the Noxian throw herself to the ground and roll around, trying to put it out.

She would have succeeded if she had been given at least a few more seconds, but Orlon had better plans as he produced water again, leaving her soaking wet from head to toe.

As she stood up, she regarded both men with a scowl on her face.

Orlon shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.

Zeylos did his best to hide his amusement: he had not planned to do that but _oh _if it wasn't satisfactory to watch.

"Everything's fine," Irelia quickly made their attention snap to her. "_Continue_!"

And so both men did.

Orlon refused to throw another fireball after what Zeylos had done and proven possible.

He had an idea.

He summoned a fireball on his right hand and Zeylos got ready to swing at it again.

He pretended to throw it and, as Zeylos focused on it and locked himself in place so as to swing at full force, Orlon hit him with waves of water, created with his left hand.

As Zeylos released his axe so as to cover his face from the suffocating amount of water, Orlon ran forwards, still trying to drown his opponent.

And once he got close to him, he stopped throwing water at him, but placed his hands dangerously close to the man and allowed thunder to crack around him, electric currents running up and down his arms.

"_Time!" _Irelia roared, knowing Orlon's next move to be fatal and aware that the boy had stopped himself due to her little tournament's rules. "Orlon wins. Zeylos, you're out."

The brute man looked at her confused for a second, but such confusion was gone as he saw the lightning on the Demacian boy's hands.

Locking his jaw, he nodded once, before bowing to Orlon, then to Irelia, and making his way to the circle.

"Zeylos."

He turned to look at Irelia, who nodded her head once.

"You fought well. Smart."

He nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Thank you, Captain."

"Next contender, someone who will dethrone Orlon." Irelia started, a smirk drawing itself on her lips as she said, "Sao, are you up to the task?"

Sao smirked right back as her eyes met blue ones, "I had a feeling you would call my name."

She entered the circle, her eyes on Orlon, who smiled and mumbled "I'll go easy on you," Teasing his superior.

Sao's eyes hardened at his taunt, but she opted for replying with her silence as she unsheathed her two weapons.

"_Fight!"_

And Sao automatically started moving.

As Orlon created a fireball in one hand, Sao took a step forwards and, Riven noticed curiously, inhaled deeply, her chest expanding as she kept the air in.

And as she closed her eyes, she was met with a cascade of water.

She had known the boy would attempt to do the same as before.

"Have you guessed what Sao's ability is?" Riven heard Irelia let out in a hushed voice, an octave lower than usual, her voice laced with a laidback nature that was nonexistent between them yet.

Riven forced herself to answer, yet allowed herself not to look at her. "I didn't know she had an ability."

She sensed Irelia was nodding her head. "She has one. Subtle enough that's almost impossible to perceive, but useful enough that will save you in life and death situations."

So Riven gave in, joined Irelia's game, focused hard and tried to guess.

The soaked warrior still had her eyes closed, despite the water being gone, lightning coming out of Orlon's fingers and always narrowly missing Sao.

For a second, Riven questioned how come Irelia was not stopping the fight, considering one electric charge would be enough to kill Sao, who was recklessly swaying around, almost as if dancing her way out of Orlon's thunder strikes.

Riven noticed how Orlon stopped attacking, his hands low, as if he were charging an uppercut.

She saw Sao bend her legs a bit, as if gathering force.

At the same time Sao impulsed herself from the ground on a jump, Riven noticed Orlon raised both of his hands, a gust of wind pushing Sao even higher, making the boy curse under his breath.

"She knew his next move," Riven observed out loud. She heard Irelia hum in confirmation. "She can sense his actions?" She questioned, not fully understanding the nature of the blonde's ability.

"She has enhanced instincts." Irelia explained. "She's incredibly more perceptive than your average person. It's almost like she can predict the near future."

Riven's brows rose. "I see."

"She won't understand why she's inclined to do something, follow a path or decline to do so, but she always knows which the right choice is."

And she hadn't meant to mumble a quiet, "Lucky." But she had absentmindedly done so.

She hadn't expected Irelia to hear her, let alone to reply with a small, "I know."

She watched as Sao made her way down to the ground once more, her sword ready to come down on Orlon's head.

The boy pushed her aside with another gust of wind.

As Sao stood up, she remained immobile, smiling at him.

Orlon frowned. Where was her—

"_Time!" _Irelia roared.

Orlon looked at her. "What—"

He saw one of her blades rush towards him—

He closed his eyes and hear the familiar clash of steel against steel, before he heard something hit the ground.

He opened his eyes and saw Sao's axe, embedded on the land.

"What…" He frowned at it, before looking up.

Irelia's blade floated idly in the air above his head.

"If she hadn't intervened," Sao started, walking towards her axe and picking it from the ground, before giving an extra step his way and patting his shoulder. "You would be dead by now."

"Sao wins. Orlon, you're finally out."

Despite the defeat, Orlon smiled and bowed, before joining those standing around the circle.

"Now, Sao's opponent." Irelia said out loud, before letting her eyes move to her right, to the woman who seemed desperate to ignore her. "Riven, you're in."

Without looking at her, Riven nodded her head once and walked into the makeshift arena.

"_Fight!"_

Riven got ready, both hands on the sword's handle as she thought for a second, only one question ringing around in her head.

_How do you defeat someone who can predict your every move?_

Sure, she had done so before, but now that she was aware of the blonde's ability, she couldn't ignore it.

She couldn't fall into her patterns without the hesitation of believing she was being predictable.

She decided to wait for Sao to make the first move.

As seconds ticked by and it became evident she wouldn't move from her spot, Sao finally broke the standstill.

She lunged forwards towards Riven, who easily sidestepped her _and _dodged the axe that was just a hair's breadth behind the blonde, as if already waiting for the Noxian to move towards that spot.

She twirled so as to build momentum and brought the broadsword towards Sao, but the woman ducked right on time, sweeping Riven's feet with her leg.

The Noxian fell on her back, but kicked her legs up so as to do a backwards roll, already on her feet again, quickly resuming the fight.

They kept feinting and dodging, evading and avoiding, a game of moves and countermoves as Sao kept pushing forwards and Riven kept limiting herself to only replying to her aggressions.

She saw an opportunity as Sao moved backwards, away from her.

She ran towards her and twirled to her left, charging an attack that would impact on Sao's left side.

The blonde was ready to meet her blade.

But at the very last second, using all of her strength, Riven stopped her momentum, making it spring towards her right, as if having bounced from one direction to the other.

She moved too fast for Sao to readjust herself.

She stopped her blade as she heard Irelia roar, "_Time!"_

She was only a few inches away from her neck.

"Riven wins."

Riven was breathing heavily. "I don't understand."

Sao chuckled, "What is it that you don't understand? That I've lost? Because me neither—"

"How come you couldn't predict I would do that?"

Sao sheathed her weapons, "Because I can't see the future." She explained, simply. "I _feel _what you will most definitely do, but I can only sense so much at the same time." She shrugged, "I can't keep up with every single move the faster, swiffer opponents plan to do. It works much better with slower, heavier ones."

"Ban, you're up." Irelia's voice brought them back to reality, which prompted Sao to try and make her way back out of the circle, but Irelia quickly raised a hand in a halting gesture. "No, Sao. You stay in, too."

Riven frowned. "Do I leave, then?" She asked, even if it didn't make sense, for she had won.

"No. You will now fight both Sao and Ban at the same time."

Ban chuckled as he made his way into the circle. "Not really fair, isn't it?"

Irelia raised a brow. "When is anything fair?"

Ban nodded, "You've got a point."

"And what is _your _ability, if you have one?" Riven questioned, suddenly serious.

"You will have to find out on your own," Irelia replied for him, "_Fight!"_

And as soon as she said that, Ban brought his warhammer back over his head and threw it at her.

Riven quickly ducked and dodged the weapon, but as she got up from the ground, she came face to face with Sao, who headbutted her, successfully making her take a few staggering steps backwards.

She had a quick interchange of rapid attacks with Sao, never losing Ban from sight as he stood to her right, before she saw the girl skip away from her.

She felt inclined to follow, but at the same time could sense the action as strange, so Riven stood her ground, her eyes on Sao, broadsword held in front of her.

She sensed movement to her left—

Riven roared in pain as Ban's warhammer hit both of her forearms, her grip on her sword weakening, the steel blade falling to the ground as she released it.

"What the—"

She watched as Ban caught the warhammer with one hand, the weapon having flown its' way right back to his hand, as if a magnet had pulled it in.

He could call his weapon back to him.

Riven picked up her blade and lunged for him.

She missed how Sao had thrown her sword on her way, making her fall to the ground.

Riven used the momentum to roll forwards—

She saw Ban get ready to throw again—

She quickly rolled once more, this time flattening her back against the ground, watching as the hammer flew above her head.

She swept the ground with her legs and managed to make Ban fall.

She couldn't finish getting up from the ground, though, for Sao held her from behind on a firm choke.

Riven grabbed her sword with one hand and threw it high in the air, above the fallen Ban.

She headbutted Sao once before crouching and bringing her head forwards, throwing the blonde above her head and onto the ground, releasing herself from the choke.

She heard the whistling sound of Ban's warhammer flying in the air once more and quickly dropped to the ground, watching it fly back towards Ban's hand, the warrior gripping it strongly and smashing Riven's blade before it could land on him.

Breaking it.

Riven quickly grabbed Sao on a choke, much like the blonde had done before.

She watched as Ban got ready to throw his weapon once more, before stopping at the sight.

Instead of aiming at Riven, the blond man threw it high in the air, as if he wanted the hammer to land behind the Noxian.

Riven knew he'd call it back to him once it was positioned right behind her, thus hitting her and not Sao.

So she quickly turned and threw Sao towards the hammer's landing area.

She hadn't considered the hammer was still too high in the air.

Ban called it back to his hand.

Riven crouched so as to avoid being hit and when she stood straight once more, she saw Ban catch his hammer and get ready to strike, so she pivoted on her left foot, right leg ready to kick him on the head—

"_Time!"_

The three of them froze.

"Sao and Ban win."

Riven frowned.

She saw Ban right in front of her, blow loaded up as he had wound up his arms and was ready to bring them forwards with all of his strength, but no deadly-blow anywhere near her to be considered a loss.

She brought her foot back to the ground and turned—

She froze when she saw the tip of Sao's sword, only an inch away from her neck.

She looked at Irelia out of the corner of her eye.

The blue eyed woman was smirking.

"Can any of you tell me which is the lesson I'm trying to teach you with this little tournament of mine?" Irelia questioned as she slowly walked around inside the circle, her eyes going from soldier to soldier as Sao and Ban sheathed their weapons, Riven grabbing the pieces of her own.

_Broken blades seems to be my theme._

Irelia grinned as she heard someone reply _The value of teamwork? _In a rather inquisitive tone, as if unsure of their answer. "Well, you could learn a thing about teamwork here, but no." She replied. "The lesson is actually more complex than that."

"To be honest with you all, I've been watching you train." Irelia confessed, her hands clasped behind her back. "I've seen you all test yourselves, your limits, your abilities, only to always end up being defeated by none other," She eyed Riven, "But our newly assigned Captain." She looked at those surrounding them once more, "Does any of you know why such a thing keeps happening?"

She was met with silence.

"You probably think she's just better than you at this; fighting." She stopped walking, still wearing a bored expression as she allowed her gaze to lock on Riven while she spoke, "Truth be told, she's not better than any of you. Still, she keeps defeating you." She raised her brows, but still looked as calm as ever, "That's because you try to _imitate her _and _no one _can fight like Riven does."

Riven caught the intensity in those cold eyes as Irelia added, "Nobody can best Riven at her own fighting style." She lolled her head to a side, "No one can learn it, copy it, best it," She smirked, "Teach it. Only Riven can for its' her own." Irelia said, before turning around and quickly breaking the stare down with the Noxian woman. "This is due to her style, her technique, having been created _by her _to suit _her needs, _her strength _and _weaknesses." She was frowning in concentration as she spoke. "Her style works _only _with her because it's been molded to fit _her _and _her alone._

She resumed her slow walking around, "That's why I encourage you all _not _to fall into that trap: _don't _imitate her, build your own fighting style instead. Use all of your tools, abilities and weapons, find what you're more comfortable with, identify weak points and advantages you may have over the rest, combine all of this things, use them and exploit them to find a technique that best suits you and use _that _against your opponent, instead of simply repeating what they do against you."

She stopped walking again, her eyes on Orlon. "Orlon was able to defeat most of you because he's found something none of you are familiar with and he's forced you to fight by his rules; trying to avoid his attacks instead of making him try to avoid yours." Irelia smirked, approval evident on her expression, "He found what works for him and used it against you all, but he couldn't do that with Sao," She said, turning to look at her friend, "Who forced him to follow _her _rules instead and ended up defeating him."

She looked at Riven once more. "Riven could blend into Sao's style easily for they're rather similar, but the thing Riven didn't know about her opponent is that Captain Sao is not a _lone-wolf _kind of warrior like her, but a _teamplayer _instead." She smirked as she circled the Noxian and the two Captains who flanked her, "Placed with her brother both in blood and arms, fighting the way she usually does, Sao was able to pull Riven into her own game, instead of letting her bend them to her will."

She scanned the crowd of soldiers around them. "The lesson of today is to create your own fighting style. Let it be solid enough that you can fall back on it whenever you need to, but allow enough flexibility into it that, need be that you adapt to someone else's, you can allow yourselves to be creative and blend your style into your opponent's. It's not a bad thing if your style _is, _indeed, similar to Riven's, but what I'm trying to let you all know here is that there's no need for you to copy it. What works for others might not work for you. That being said, I'm proud of the progress all of you have done."

And she had been addressing _all of them._

Not that they could tell, though.

Sao approached Irelia, "Is training over, then?" She asked, seeing how the lesson seemed to be over and the class dismissed.

"No," Irelia replied with a shake of her head, "Not yet. There's still one more fight I'd like to have happening today."

"Oh, okay." Sao said, absentmindedly. "Who?"

And Riven felt her heart stop in anticipation before she heard her say,

"Riven and I."

* * *

This is another of those chapters where I get too excited about updating and I take advantage of the fact that it's long enough that I can get away with splitting it in two. Enjoy!


	11. Different Yet The Same

_Riven and I._

_Riven and I._

_Riven and I._

It echoed inside her skull, getting louder and louder before she managed to snap out of it in one quick turn of her body, as she faced Irelia, who was still standing by Sao.

Blue eyes watched her as she scanned the Captain of the Guard, her red ones getting stuck on those blades that she had temporarily strapped to her back, their tips barely visible to her sides. "Are you going to use those?" She asked her, a nod in the flying steel's direction.

Irelia nodded. "These are my _weapons of choice_."

She twirled the broken blade on her hand, making Irelia's eyes dart towards it, before she herself gave it a quick inspection, huffing a chuckle at it.

She heard the blue haired Captain say, "With the sword broken like that, now you're far closer to what you _actually _wield, aren't you?"

Riven quickly looked at her again, analyzing that apparently-ever-neutral expression of hers, but she knew better, for she knew it's never actually neutral and there are always hints to her mood: the ghost of a smirk on her lips, mirth making her eyes shine brighter, like ice under the glare of the Sun.

Was she trying to be humorous in a friendly way or was she trying to taunt her?

Whatever she had meant, Riven felt it like a slap on the face.

Those kinds of topics were still too difficult, too sensitive for either of them to touch and Irelia dared do it like _that._

Like an insult.

_Fucking bitch._

"Actually, no." Riven replied, a smirk of her own on her lips. "It's not even close to what I wield." And just like that, she discarded the broken sword by letting it fall to the ground.

"Oh, no?" Irelia asked, amusement evident on her voice. "How come?"

Riven pointed at the sword she had dropped, "My sword's broken far closer to the hilt than this one." She shrugged her shoulders, "It makes a very big difference, specially on the weight, you know?"

"Oh, I see," Irelia continued using that dissonant tone, "What are we ever going to do about it?"

She was going to _force _her to say it.

Riven tried not to grit her teeth.

"If you're going to use _those," _Riven casted a glance on Irelia's blades direction. "I believe it's only fair for me to use _my _sword, not one of these _mundane _ones."

Irelia looked at her with a concerned expression, her head lolling to a side and her arms crossed in front of her, "You want to wield that old thing?"

"I could ask you the same."

Irelia's face contorted once more, this time going back to that always-focused demeanor of hers as she took a few steps towards Riven, until they were in the same space.

"Very well, _Riven." _She said, letting her name out with a curious bite on the way she said her name, icy stare scanning the Noxian's face. "Go fetch your sword, but be quick." And despite the tone she used, she _smiled, "_I don't like to be kept waiting."

And if it weren't for how angry she was at the Ionian, Riven's bravado would have faltered.

After all, she had kept Irelia waiting for a whole year.

Instead of thinking about such things, though, Riven allowed herself to glare at Irelia for one second longer before making her way towards her room.

_Stomping _her way to her room.

She ignored whatever those behind her were saying.

She ignored the way she could hear her own breathing, heavy with something. The rush of her blood on her ears, the pounding of her heart, the adrenaline that ran in her veins.

Riven reached her room in no time and opened the chest that laid by the bed's end.

She felt as if her Targonian armor and her Noxian blade looked right back at her.

Quickly, she grabbed her blade and closed the chest once more.

And making her way back, as she gripped her blade with more force than necessary, she felt that anger amplify itself, rapidly taking control of her nervous system.

Rageful. Beyond it, like a bomb waiting to explode, once more. Like a river, waiting for the walls to crumble and for the flood to happen. Like a hurricane, an earthquake, an active volcano.

She hoped Irelia felt like a butterfly, whose wings would cause the tornado on the other side of the World.

She really hoped it, for she was Irelia's other side of the World.

Her opposite.

So if Irelia was the butterfly, she would be the tornado.

Let her stupid taunting words be the flapping wings that unleash her fury.

_Let her meet what she has helped set free._

Riven nodded her head, agreeing with the voice in her head.

_Let her taste what she has made._

The voices sounded louder and louder, riling her up and preparing her for war.

Riven was _ready._

* * *

"Took you long enough." Irelia commented as she saw Riven reappear, a bored expression on her face, one she fought to keep in place as the Noxian got close enough and she finally took her in.

And she had to fight to keep it in place because it didn't feel right: watching Riven approach, then the eerie feeling that suddenly placed a lump in her throat, made her heart heavy, brought her very _soul _down...

This sensation of _wrongness_ carried Riven and was carried by her, she realized. Accompanied, as if they walked hand in hand.

As if they were in the same body.

Absolutely _everything _about Riven was wrong.

As wrong as it had always been.

As wrong as it _hadn't _been the last few months, when she had watched her train, expecting to see it but always missing it.

Until _now._

It was such an uncanny feeling, Irelia decided: Her eyes remained on Riven's figure as she studied her, trying to pinpoint exactly what was so wrong, so different to what had been a few minutes ago, yet unable to blame it on one specific thing.

Her eyes seemed angrier, her figure a hunched forwards, the grip on her broken sword so unnecessarily strong but, if she had it asked to her what was wrong with Riven, her answer would be _nothing._

It was like seeing a landscape, then seeing it again but having taken one step to the side;; slightly off frame, but nothing of essence has been changed.

Yet the essence was entirely different.

Entirely wrong.

"Took me long, but I'm here now," Riven replied and _Gods, _even her _voice _sounded different yet the same.

Rougher, yet as rough as it had always been.

_Blame it on the accent._

Riven stood right in front of Irelia and the Ionian couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the sight of _green _once more, not red.

"Shall we begin?" The Noxian asked her, a vile smile on her lips.

Was she the only one that could notice this extreme-yet-subtle change on her demeanor?

Was she the only one who saw the way her eyes would go green every time her aura shifted this way?

Green like her—

"Irelia?"

The Captain of the Guard shook her head a bit, looking at Sao, "Yes?"

There was the cautious glint of concern in her eye. "Are you two really going to do this?"

And she wondered whether Sao _knew, _whether she could feel it too.

The air getting denser with every second that passed. A certain electricity in the sterile atmosphere that had little to do with Orlon's elemental abilities.

The way the soil underneath their feet seemed to die, even if it was still green.

_Green._

"Yeah," She said, nodding her head once.

She didn't know why, but she felt like she needed it.

It just felt necessary, to face Riven and let her face her.

She reasoned that maybe the reasons why would surface in the aftermath of their fight.

_Or maybe it will all be for nothing._

She raised a brow.

_At least I'll get to let some of it out on her._

"Let's go," She said, eyeing Riven, quietly guiding her to the center of the circle.

She looked around for a second, before calmly announcing, "We're going to need our small _arena _to be a bit bigger." Irelia motioned with her hands for everyone to step back. "Make room."

As they obeyed, she caught sight of Sao, who was still frowning at her.

Irelia nodded her head once at her.

Sao mirrored the gesture. "Since Captain Irelia will be fighting this round, I will play her role for now." She was focused on them, "Captains, are you ready?"

As Irelia stood on guard, she brought one hand to her lips and her blades appeared to gain life, releasing themselves from their places on her back and finding their respective positions, flanking her. "I am."

Riven merely nodded her head, already on guard.

So Sao finally commanded, "_Fight!"_

And they didn't waste a second.

Riven started by dashing towards her, already faster than before, the movement violent in itself.

Irelia remained on her spot, but her body moved.

Each of her movements flowing and seamlessly blending onto the next, she quickly made those blades dash on Riven's direction.

Riven stopped advancing to dodge the projectile-like blades.

In the fraction of a second she focused on something else than Irelia, the Captain of the Guard moved.

Quickly turning to face her, Riven caught sight of Irelia once more before she shot one of those blades in her direction.

Riven focused on the blade, inclined her body to her right and successfully dodged the single projectile. She moved her gaze to the Ionian and got ready to throw herself at Irelia—

She barely had time to raise her sword and deflect the steel that came for her life as she came face to face with Irelia, dashing towards her, weapons at the ready.

Steel after steel, Riven could only focus on meeting each of Irelia's levitating blades with her broken sword, the Ionian leaving her no room to counter her attacks, respond with one of her own.

She focused on the blue haired woman, hidden behind her deadly servants and stopped parrying her attacks, a temporary shield forming around her body as she quickly moved towards her.

She saw Irelia's brows raise as she made a slashing motion, aiming for her neck.

Irelia evaded, inclining her body backwards, but Riven's attacks kept coming as the Noxian used the impulse of her missed hit to twirl and try to land another slash. As she missed, she stopped her movement and pivoted in the opposite direction, ricocheting off her previous movement, just as she had done when fighting Sao.

Irelia saw it coming and moved away right on time—

But then Riven was jumping, rolling forwards in the air, charging yet another attack—

She narrowly missed Irelia, but the impact on the ground was enough to make her fall on one knee.

Seeing her opportunity, Riven dashed towards her one more time—

She saw Irelia bring one of her blades to her position, before quickly rolling to a side, so she turned on her feet—

The blade that had missed her head and the one Irelia had just placed on the ground suddenly met on the middle, right where she was.

A deafening sound, steel-on-steel, made her stop and groan in pain, the Noxian unaware of the cuts on the front and the back of her thighs.

Irelia called her blades back towards her and, directing them with her hands, swinging them against the air, commanded them to slash at the stunned Noxian.

Blade after blade, as if forming a deadly queue, their sharp edges met Riven's skin, all of them cutting their way on her arms and chest, one right after the other, as if sawing her flesh always following Irelia's hand's motion.

When Riven managed to gather control once more, she brought her blade up and unleashed her energy on a shockwave around her, successfully returning the favor to Irelia and making her stagger, her attacks stopping.

So Riven dashed forwards and slashed once more.

Irelia moved before real damage could be done, but the end of her blade left a gashing wound on her cheek, right above her jaw, dangerously close to her neck.

It was clear Riven wasn't playing.

Irelia called upon her blades.

Riven tried to attack her once more, but Irelia's steel surrounded her in a flurry, a barrier protecting her from her opponent, a blade almost cutting her nose off as she had tried to approach face-first.

Through the small spaces between the blades, as they spinned around her enemy, Riven could get glimpses of Irelia.

The Ionian stared right back at her.

Riven roared as she tried to conjure up her shield, ready to dash through the steel hurricane and into its' eye.

Sensing her intentions, Irelia brought her hands together in front of her, her blades obeying her movements and breaking their circle, only to meet at the front, like a scorpion's tail attempting to sting.

Riven's eyes widened at the unexpected attack.

She tried to move backwards, tried to stop her advance, knowing her shield wouldn't be strong enough to deflect the attack entirely, but she was moving forwards _too _fast, being already _too _ahead, _too _close.

It was too late.

Her shield exploded once Irelia's blades made contact with it.

The shockwave pushed Irelia backwards, the woman keeping her stance strong enough so as to still remain on her feet, arms in front of her face in order to cover her from anything that might be coming her way.

When she looked again, Riven was down on the ground, on her side, facing away from her.

Unmoving.

There were murmurs around them.

"_Quiet!" _Irelia roared, clenching her teeth, her blades falling in line behind her as she called them back to her with the flick of her wrist. "Stand back." She growled, not wanting any of them to get involved.

She slowly approached Riven, her eyes on Riven's back, looking for a sign that she was okay.

She didn't see her move, not even an inch.

She didn't see it fill up with air, the rise and fall that would indicate that she was breathing.

She couldn't think, couldn't breathe herself as she reached Riven and kneeled behind her, her hands slowly coming to Riven's head so as to turn her and make her lay on her back—

She fell to the ground as an armored hand suddenly smacked her on the jaw, the blow strong enough that she felt her own legs going weak at it, her blades falling idly to the dirt too.

Riven was suddenly on top of her, then, her hands around her neck, fingers squeezing it as hard as she could, directing the pushing force upwards into Irelia's jaw, the Noxian trying to cut the air and blood flow to her head.

Riven was breathing heavy, her glaring eyes watching Irelia's suffocating face.

Still applying pressure with one hand, she raised her other and formed a fist.

The shift on her grip gave Irelia room to move_._

She quickly moved a hand and a blade that was close enough darted towards Riven's temple.

As Riven ducked and the pressure on Irelia's neck faltered, the Ionian quickly brought her head against Riven's, giving her enough room to bring her fist to the Noxian's cheek on a hook.

She managed to make Riven sway on top of her, her weight shifting to a side, giving Irelia the right amount of time to bridge her hips and make Riven fall to a side.

She moved towards Riven, hoping to get on top of her and reverse the previous situation—

Riven brought her knees to her chest and, as Irelia tried to straddle her, she kicked her back.

Irelia let herself follow the movement, rolling backwards, her hand landing on one of her blades as she did so.

Riven quickly got on her feet, her eyes on her blade—

Irelia grabbed the piece of steel as she finished rolling and landed on a crouched position, before getting up—

Riven quickly picked up her blade and got up, ready to swing—

She froze when she felt Irelia's blade against all of her neck.

Her broken sword was tightly pressed against Irelia's, too.

They were both breathing heavy.

Despite it all, Irelia smirked, "What a standstill, right?"

"Standstill?" Riven asked, before huffing a laugh, "If I wanted you dead, you would be bleeding out on the ground by now," She declared, emphasizing her words by pushing her blade just a fraction harder against the blue haired woman's neck.

The Ionian growled, "Do you really think so?" She questioned, her grip on her blade not faltering, even as it cut into her palm with the strength of her hold, the other end of it pushing against Riven's throat. "Do you really think you're alive because you're better? Pay attention, Riven, and don't make a fool of yourself."

Riven's eyes flickered from blue eyes to a bloody hand, before going to the free one that motioned for all of her other blades to surround her.

She suddenly felt how each and every one of Irelia's blades touched her body, a feathery, deadly kiss.

Faint enough that it didn't hurt, but strong enough to make their presence evident.

"If _I _wanted you dead, _you'd _be on the ground by now." Irelia corrected for her, each of her deadly blades pressed against Riven's body. "You're not better than anybody here."

"Between us, who do you think is _faster_?" Riven questioned. "Tell me, do you think _you'd _be?"

"You'd die before you could kill me."

As if helping send those words into her brain, each blade Irelia controlled pushed against her skin, the stinging making Riven bare her teeth and her grip harden.

The Noxian replied by pressing harder, too.

"Do you want to test that out?"

Irelia's hand was a bloody mess, her grip insanely hard as her whole fist shook with the sheer intensity.

She would let her actions be a reply—

"_Time!"_

The strength they both were putting into their battle of wills died out at Sao's voice, both warriors letting their eyes move towards the blonde.

She looked painfully worried, "It's a tie." She said, though her eyes screamed _Enough._

Neither warrior made a move, though.

Everyone quietly watched.

One of them would have to eventually give in, to either their survival instincts or a more pacific way out.

And finally, Irelia made the first move.

Fighting against her better judgement, she slowly shooed her blades away, before loosening her grip on the one on her hand, letting it join the others on the air as they made their way to her back, getting caught on their straps.

Giving Riven the guarantee that the fight was, indeed, over, she watched as the Noxian remained still.

It started to make her nervous.

Despite her desire to just shoot all of her blades right back out and straight at her, she dared try something else as she nodded her head once and murmured low enough for only Riven to hear, "It's okay."

And it was then when she caught a glimpse of the turmoil Riven was caught in.

She hadn't noticed the way she was scrunching up her nose, her lip twitching and her eyes squinting, as if she was having a very heated debate on her head. Pupils abandoning Irelia's frame from nanoseconds, searching for the right words to think right back at whatever the voice inside her head had shot at her.

Eventually someone in her head won, the right person, Irelia realized, as Riven slowly lowered her blade.

The Ionian Captain hoped it had been Riven.

She really hoped the kind spirit in her was _herself _and not someone else.

Despite the blood on her cheek and her limbs, Irelia nodded her head again and, with a smirk, offered Riven her hand, "Great battle."

But apparently she could only be gentle for so long before she had to be rude, for she just ground out, "I need some fresh air," Before turning on her heels and stomping her way out of there, the circle of soldiers opening to let her through.

Nevermind that they were already out, fresh air all around them.

Irelia sighed, letting her body finally feel her exhaustion.

"Okay, folks, you've seen enough for today," She listened as Sao said, "Training is over. You have the rest of the day for yourselves." And then she heard the Captain walk towards her before shoving her, "What the Hell was all of that about?!"

Irelia glared at her, "It was _nothing—"_

"You were about to _kill her!"_

"And she was about to _kill me!" _Irelia let out on a harsh whisper, just like Sao had done, "But nobody was killed."

And that made her raise her brows a bit.

They had gone all in at each other and yet _nobody was killed._

It was something to think about.

_Progress, maybe?_

_Something like it, at least._

They both jumped when they heard Ban's voice, "Am I the only one who felt it? The weirdness in the air."

"No," Irelia said, a frown on her face, "I felt it, too."

Sao looked just as worried, "Do you think it was Riven?"

"I _know _it was Riven," Irelia replied. "I only felt it when she came back to fight." She sighed, "In any case, I'll go and find out now."

She turned to leave—

"Where do you think you're going!?" Sao asked her in a panicked whisper.

Irelia looked at her like she was asking something stupid. "After Riven."

"Irelia, _don't."_

"Sao, it's fine—"

"It _isn't." _And the urgency, the finality of her tone made Irelia take her at least a bit more seriously. "She needs space and she's made it clear. I think we ought to give it to her."

"Sao—"

"_Irelia, _I'm _serious."_

She offered her a small smirk, "It's okay, I promise. I swear I'm beyond any hostilities—"

"It's not _you _that worries me," Sao said, an uncomfortable grimace on her face. "I just have a very bad _feeling _about it. Please, just let her be for a while. You can find her later."

And it was the word _feeling _that managed to convince her, so Irelia nodded her head, "Okay, you win."

Sao smiled at her, "Thank you." Then she allowed herself to think about Riven and a frown appeared on her face as she shook her head. "I hadn't felt that aura around her before." She sighed, "I don't even know what we're after, here."

"Well, we really can't know for sure." She raised a brow, then, "Only a mage can."

Sao frowned, "What do you mean?"

Her special _power _being one that so often passed as simple instincts, Sao wasn't that well versed on supernatural abilities and interacting with them.

"As people with supernatural abilities, we are able to sense others who also possess something of the sort." Irelia quickly explained, "But we can only _sense _it. Mages, on the other hand, can go as far as _seeing _it."

Sao nodded, "Okay, maybe Orlon can help then?"

Irelia frowned, "Where is he?"

They heard Ban clear his throat and point a single finger in the direction Riven had walked off in.

Orlon was going after her.

As both female Captains groaned, Ban sidestepped them, "It's okay, I got it." He said, getting his warhammer in position and—

"Ban, _no—"_

—throwing it in Orlon's direction.

They watched as it passed the mage and, as Ban summoned it back, they witnessed how the hammer started to move towards Orlon.

The mage didn't move as the warhammer's hilt smacked him on the forehead, making him fall to the ground.

As Ban caught his weapon and sheathed it on his back, he smirked at the two women. "I've had enough target practice in my life to know how _not _to harm someone. Relax, you two."

Orlon got up from the ground with a red face and a confused glare on his eyes.

Still, he appeared to have gotten the message, for he had stopped moving towards where Riven had wandered off to and was actually walking towards them.

"I will take that little _pat _on the head as you three needing my assistance, my Captains?" He questioned with curiosity and mirth lightening up his tone.

"What do you know about seeing magic in others?" Irelia was quick to ask.

Orlon frowned and thought about the question for a minute, before finally replying. "It's a _complicated _part of magic." He explained, "From what I understand, seeing it requires a certain training, while sensing it comes easier." He raised a brow, clearly lost in his own mind, "It's the spiritual connections that we're able to naturally see…"

"What did you see?" Sao asked him.

And his eyes went from Sao's hazel ones to Irelia's blue, before his face turned a shade of red again.

It was almost as if he was asking Irelia whether he was allowed to open his mouth or not.

He looked away and it was then when Irelia noticed.

It made her a bit nervous, if she was honest.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and made him stare at her once more.

"Tell me everything you know."

* * *

Author's note:

Is it obvious how badly I want to advance this story?

Let me know your thoughts! Comments are always welcome 3


	12. Mingling Its' Own Nature With It

The leaves crunched underneath her feet as she walked around the forest, faint and distant sounds of nature around her as birds chirped and other animals replied. Even the wind was calm, a gentle breeze pushing back her hair and clearing her face.

It was starting to blow on the colder side, as the Sun finished setting and nighttime was due, the Moon in the sky and starts flanking her sides.

The words from her earlier conversation still buzzed around in her head as she tried to organize them and file them away, saving the information, valuable as gold, for whenever it was needed, for future planning, scheming and strategizing.

Yet a part of her didn't want to file it away.

A part of her, the most instinctual side that followed her gut and no logic at all, demanded she kept it at the forefront of her mind, for it would prove vital in the moments to come.

_Keep it in mind, _that voice in her head which was her only wiser kept whispering, _keep it in mind, keep it in mind, keep it in mind._

So, with a frown, Irelia gave in to her inner voice's desires and recalled in her head what Orlon had said before.

_Your aura is blue, clear as the sky…_

_Riven's I had never seen before, but today I it was there and it was—_

Irelia remembered having cut Orlon off to say _green._

He had looked at her with surprise in his eyes as he corrected, _black and green._

_Riven's was black and green, a monstrously humongous thing that seemed to suck in the atmosphere…_

_Powerful and brutal, brutally violent…_

His words repeated in her brain as she walked around, the only visual in her mind's eye being Riven, her sword pressed against Irelia's neck, Irelia's own hand pressing a blade to the Noxian's throat.

And the red eyes that were red no more.

They hadn't been red for a while, ever since she left the training camp and came back with that vile weapon of hers.

Instead, they were—

_Green, like the green runes on her broken sword._

_Green, like her monstrously humongous aura._

_Green, like they got when she was furious and losing her mind._

_Green, like the explosion during the Noxian Invasion—_

She heard herself take a sharp breath as she found what she had been looking for.

Behind a tree, she could see the shape of someone laying their back to it.

A black and green, broken broadsword laying idly next to them.

_Riven._

Irelia slowly walked until she was in front of her, unsure whether she should announce herself or just appear, for she didn't know which option would guarantee she didn't get stabbed to death.

_Maybe both options promise death._

_Maybe leaving the crest blades back in my room was not a very sound decision._

But as she came face to face with Riven, she noticed the woman was not aware of her presence.

She couldn't be, for she was out cold; completely _unconscious._

Her back laid against the tree's trunk, her head hung limply in front of her, each limb awkwardly bent this or that way, fingers unflexed and all strength gone as blood slowly dripped from each of her wounds.

Irelia slowed down her own breathing, inhaling and exhaling the minimum air possible as she slowly approached the slumbering Noxian.

"Riven?" She asked in a voice too small for anybody to hear, even though she felt as if she was screaming into the dead silence of the night.

The Noxian did not react.

Fighting the urge only for a second and losing the battle miserably, Irelia crouched to be on Riven's level and brought one of her hands to her chin, slowly lifting her head up.

Her eyes were closed and a wound she had placed on her cheek earlier was still open, but she was still breathing, slow and deep.

Irelia promptly released her.

Her head hung limply again.

Riven was completely passed out.

Knowing she'd regret it for the rest of her life —which would probably be cut short —if Riven saw that same moment as opportune to wake up, Irelia lifted her head again with one hand and, with the other, she forced one of Riven's eyes open.

The iris was, once again, red.

Irelia frowned.

_Back to normal._

Because _this _was the normal Riven.

White hair, red eyes and no blackness to her.

The other one was a blasphemous copy.

She pointedly ignored how she was defending the Noxian in her own head, in her own way, and focused on the fact that Riven had, apparently, left their training _only _to pass out against a tree trunk.

Was she really that tired, after their fight?

Irelia's frown deepened.

_But it was so short, really… and I'm not even tired._

She smirked.

_Someone's lacking stamina._

She was desperate for Riven to wake up just so that she could torment her with the newfound knowledge.

"You know, for someone so proud of their physical abilities, you're actually a weakling." Irelia murmured as she grabbed Riven by the waist and brought her up to her feet. "What a scam you are, Riven."

She placed Riven's arm over her shoulders and held her in place by her waist, ready to bring her back to the Placidium.

As she took her first step back, she felt something hard press against the sole of her foot.

Irelia looked down.

It felt as if that awful weapon was _staring _right back at her.

She _glared _at the broken sword.

Raising her brows, she considered leaving it there, simply abandoning the vile thing, for the Earth to do what it pleased with it, even if it was as unearthy as anything could ever be.

Seconds passed, but they felt awfully long.

_She wouldn't be too happy if I did that._

And thus, careful enough so as not to let the snoozing Riven fall, Irelia crouched and grabbed the cursed object, fighting the insane urge to throw it away as she did so, before standing up straight again and resuming her walk back to the Ionian palace, ignoring the desire to get rid of the object that seemed to scorch her hand with its' mere presence in each step they took.

Once again, she pointedly ignored the looming question of when, exactly, had she started caring about a Noxian's happiness.

* * *

When Riven woke up, the first thing she noticed was that each and every part of her body was sore.

When she shifted, trying to ease the tension on her muscles, her eyes opened as she noticed a second thing.

She was not in the forest anymore, but in her own bedroom, instead.

As she tried to get up and into a sitting position, she realized someone was in there with her, sitting by her desk, turning to see where the noise she was doing came from, only to raise her brows at her.

"You're awake," Sao stated, getting up and closer to the side of the bed, sitting on the sofa right next to it.

"It would seem so," Riven commented, bringing a hand up to her eyes and rubbing the sleep from them. "How did I get here?"

She felt her brain stop working when Sao simply responded, "Irelia brought you here."

Riven frowned, "Irelia?" Sao nodded her head. "How?"

_When?_

_Why?_

_Really? Irelia? The Captain of the Guard, Irelia?_

_That same one?_

Sao shrugged, "She went out looking for you an hour or two ago," She started, "She told me she found you passed out against a tree, so she brought you back here on her own."

It was a very difficult thing to imagine, let alone to process as something _real _that had actually happened, the fact that Irelia Lito herself had bothered to go out _looking _for her and had brought her back to her room.

The hand on her face came into contact with her cheek and she felt the curious oxymoron of a rough smoothness that characterized bandages.

She had been struck there, she remembered.

Her hand moved to her neck, where Irelia had pressed her blade against her skin.

There was a bandage there, too.

Slowly moving the covers away, she inspected herself.

Only in her undergarments, she had bandages all over her body, covering each wound that she had adorning her skin.

"Thank you," Riven called absentmindedly.

Sao frowned, "For what?"

The Noxian got comfortable once more under the blankets, letting them cover her. "For taking care of my wounds." She said, "Must have been a lot of work."

"Oh," Sao said, raising her brows a bit. "I didn't do that."

_What?_

"If you didn't, then who—"

"Irelia did." She said, a look on her face that indicated that she felt she was stating the obvious.

And it made the image of Irelia bringing her back from the woods even harder to process.

Not only had she brought her back, she had also tended to her wounds.

Irelia had brought her broken body back and then she had probably taken most of her clothes off, just to clean and bandage each cut, before placing her in her bed and letting her sleep.

She could feel her face heating up by the time her mind reached the _clothes off _part of the thought.

_Embarrassment. It's embarrassment._

She checked her hands and relief washed over her as she realized they were still bandaged, as she usually wore them.

_Thank the Gods._

"And where is she, now?" She opted for asking more questions instead of processing all those difficult thoughts.

Sao shrugged. "She called me some minutes ago and asked me to keep an eye on you while she was gone. She said she'd be back in a few, but she hasn't returned yet."

Riven _pointedly _ignored the fact that, judging by Sao's words, Irelia had apparently remained to her side since the moment she found her in the woods, asking for someone else to do the job only because she couldn't do it herself.

"What," She started, "Is she afraid of me running away or something, that she has to ask you to _keep an eye on me?" _She joked, looking for a the Irelia-logic behind her actions.

But Sao was shaking her head. "She just wanted me to keep you company, in case you woke up while she was gone. She didn't feel okay with you waking up and being on your own, probably confused about how you got here in the first place, so she asked me to be here to help you if you needed something."

So Sao wasn't exactly _keeping an eye on her, _she was actually just _looking out for her._

Irelia's direct orders.

And only because Irelia herself couldn't do it at the moment.

_Thoughtful._

_Personal._

So Riven decided she had to think about something else.

"What happened after the fight?" She asked, a frown on her red face.

It made Sao look at her with a concerned expression. "What do you mean?" She started, "You don't remember—"

"I know what I did," Riven cut her off, knowing what her train of thought was. "I mean what did _you all _do once I was gone."

"Well, we called it a day," Sao said, deciding _not _to tell her about Orlon's conversation with them. "Training was over. Irelia wanted to go looking after you, but I told her to give you some time and space before doing so," She shrugged, "You seemed to really need it and I didn't want her suffocating you," She chuckled, "And I know just how suffocating she can be."

_How? _She wanted to ask, _You should have let her come._

But, at the same time, Riven knew.

Riven knew she didn't know what she would have done, had Irelia trailed after her.

Riven knew she was gone enough that she could have killed her, though.

So she settled for saying, "Thank you for that. I did need the space."

"I know," Sao said, nodding her head, "You know, I'm only looking out for you."

Riven nodded her head, "Yeah, I—"

"And for _her," _Sao continued, making Riven look into her hazel eyes, only to find an intense warning in them. "I look out for you _both._" She hunched forwards, "And you're my friend, Riven, but it would be very hard for you to remain a friend if you hurted the one person I love like a sister, so _please, _keep an eye on whatever the Hell you unleashed today because if the need to choose arises, it will be ugly and painful, but I will always choose Irelia." She shook her head, "Don't fool yourself by thinking otherwise."

Riven let out a breath in a long exhale, opening her mouth to speak—

Sao's hand on her own successfully silenced her. "Don't take it the wrong way, Riven." She said, a gentleness to her voice that the Noxian hadn't heard before, "But I wouldn't betray my Captain, even if some of her decisions are brash and just _stupid."_

Riven shook her head, "No, I don't take it the wrong way." She said, offering a small smile. "I…" She trailed off, sighing.

She knew exactly what Sao was asking, the implied question behind her statement.

_What the Hell was all of that about?_

And she meant the frenziness she had fallen into during her fight with Irelia.

So Riven sighed again, "I'm not exactly sure what happened back there," She started, "I guess it was all too painful, striking too close to home, reminding me of very awful experiences and I just—" She shook her head, "I just lost it, I guess."

Sao nodded her head, thinking about it all. "Well," She started. "Don't lose it again, or else you'll lose something else along with it, too."

Riven frowned, "What?"

There was a knock on the door.

Sao shrugged, "Your life." She responded, before standing up and opening it. "Took you long enough."

"It wasn't even that long," Irelia responded back, entering the room with no other warning after that, before quickly moving towards the desk on the room and placing a tray on it. She quickly moved back to the door, where Sao had stood still, "Thank you for covering for me."

Sao shook her head, "No problem." She said, before making her way through the door, completely deciding _not _to tell her friend that the woman they had been taking care of was currently awake. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will," Irelia replied, before closing the door behind her and moving to the desk, sitting on the chair by it.

It was then, when Irelia moved around a few papers and let out a sigh as she picked up a pen and started scribbling away that Riven realized the Captain was not aware of her being conscious again.

She watched Irelia's hunched figure as she read the paper in front of her, before nodding her head once, placing her pen on it, flicking her wrist and then placing it to a side, before moving on to the next one.

She was doing her paperwork here, in Riven's bedroom, instead of in her _office, _specifically designed for doing just _that._

Riven kept quietly watching Irelia as the Ionian signed paper after paper, before taking a small break to grab a bowl from the tray she had brought with her—

She quickly pulled her hand away with a quiet hiss; whatever she had touched was, apparently, hot.

Riven saw Irelia glare at the inanimate object, before grabbing what looked like toast from next to it and spreading something on it, before taking a loud bite.

Realizing just how noisy she had just been, Irelia unexpectedly turned to look at Riven and check she was sleeping—

She froze when she saw Riven looking right back at her, eyes wide with curiosity.

She suddenly felt too aware of just how _big _that bite had been, considering her cheeks were puffed up and she had crumbs all over her mouth.

she wiped with her wrist, before quickly swallowing the barely-chewed bite, "You're up."

Riven stared.

She didn't buy, not even for one second, that she was actually awake. This all just _had _to be a fever dream.

She wanted to laugh, feeling hysterical, but instead settled for deadpanning a, "Yeah, I am." But she couldn't help herself as she added, "And you're eating toast in my room."

Irelia looked at her, before slowly nodding her head. "And I just burned my hand with a bowl of soup."

"Yeah," Riven said, nodding, "I saw that."

Irelia frowned, "How long have you been up?"

"Since before Sao left."

So the Ionian slowly nodded her head, her brows raising a bit, "So that bastard deliberately decided not to inform me of this."

Riven nodded, feeling so out of place, so weird about hearing Irelia talk so nonchalantly, going as far as to use insults and all. "She does have a thing for leaving people out of the loop, doesn't she?"

Irelia sighed, "She really does." She said, before asking, "Are you hungry?"

And Riven really wanted to say _no, _but realized she couldn't once her stomach rumbled loud enough that she just _knew _Irelia had heard it. "Yeah."

Biting her toast so as to hold it with her mouth, Irelia got up and, carefully, brought the tray to Riven, placing it on her lap, "Careful," She said around a mouthful of toast, her eyes locked on Riven's for a second longer than necessary, "It's hot." She finished, going back to her seat by Riven's desk, though the chair was turned to face the Noxian, having even brought it closer to the bed.

"I suspected it," Riven replied, wishing to bite her own tongue at the glare Irelia regarded her with, feeling relief wash over her at the sight of a small smirk after a second. "Wasn't this yours, though?"

Irelia nodded, "It was, but I'll settle for the toasts. I can go looking for more later if need be."

"What time is it?" Riven brought a spoonful of the hearty meal up and blew a bit on it, "Isn't the kitchen closed after a certain hour?"

"It's somewhere around three in the morning and _yes, _it is, but I do what I want."

And it was then that Riven paid attention, _really _paid attention, to Irelia's demeanor.

It was uncanny, how the way she displayed herself seemed to never change, yet she could clearly tell playful Irelia from angry Irelia and so on. It was like the air around her changed, even if she remained as calm and collected as ever.

She had learned how to read her emotions.

Maybe Irelia was more of an open book than what she had imagined.

"I see," she replied, "Is that why you can also get _toast _with your awful soup, unlike the rest of us commoners?"

"Do _not _insult the soup; I like it." Irelia warned with a playful glare. "But yes. I can get luxuries such as _toast _because I am _Irelia Lito _and the cook loves me_. _Meanwhile, you can't because you're simply _Riven…" _She saw as Irelia trailed off and a frown formed on her face. "Did you ever tell me your last name?"

"I don't have one."

It surprised the blue haired woman and it made Riven realize that the Ionian was actually far more expressive than she had taken her to be; she had just not been looking hard enough. "No?" At the shake of Riven's head, Irelia added, "Is that a Noxian thing? Not having family names?"

"It's far more complicated than that." Riven settled, not knowing whether she should explain or not. "It's a Noxian tradition. I'm just _Riven."_

Sensing Riven's reluctance, Irelia dropped the subject. "Okay."

"Why are you doing your paperwork here?" Riven asked, deciding that beating around the bush would definitely not work.

"So that I can be here for you, in case you need anything."

The simple response, let out so casually, as if Irelia was stating the _obvious…_

But it was never obvious with Irelia.

"But _why? _Why are you doing this?"

Irelia raised a brow, "Do you want me to leave—"

"_No," _Riven was quick to cut her off. "I need to understand the motive behind this, that's all."

Irelia regarded her for a second and Riven felt how she was picking at every inch of her skin with those ice cold eyes.

"I just feel like I should, considering I am the reason why you're in the state you're in at the moment."

"The state I'm in…" Riven mused out loud. "What would that state be?"

"Sore, hurt, _tired," _Irelia raised a brow, "You passed out in the woods, did you know?"

Riven nodded, "And you brought me here."

"That I did." Irelia confirmed, "And—"

"And you patched me up."

She swallowed whatever she was about to say, before replying, "Yes, yes I did."

"And you did all of that for what?" Riven asked again, as if really not understanding the situation, "So that Diana won't be pissed when you send me back to Targon?"

Irelia's frown deepened as she shook her head. "What? No." She looked at Riven with an inquisitive look, "Do you think I'm going to exile you from Ionia or something?"

_Exile._

_What a word._

"I don't know, maybe? Irelia," She started, and she was about to talk to her like a _colleague, _and it felt so _out of place, "_I believe you know how I move around the battlefield well enough to know that I was actually trying to _kill you, _earlier in the day."

"I do know that, _Riven," _She replied in the same exact tone, "It wouldn't be the first time you try," She said, dropping a bomb but at the same time not meaning anything by it, "So I think I'm pretty familiar with _murderous-you."_

Somehow, she was able to see past the brushing of a too difficult topic, "Then _why _are you not kicking me out?"

"Do you _want _me to do it?" Irelia asked her, hearing Riven reply with a _What? Why would I— _"Do you want to leave Ionia, Riven?"

She remained quiet for a second.

"I don't know."

She was being half-honest.

She did know, but she was uncertain whether it was a sound decision or not.

Should she _really _stay?

Irelia was tranquil, her eyes lazily set on Riven's, "The doors to Ionia are open for you to leave if you so wish to, but no one here has the intent to kick you out." She sighed, "I _did _invite you in the first place, so it would be really stupid of me to send you back to Targon, after a year of waiting for you to actually take the invite and come back."

"You never told me why you asked me to come back."

She didn't know whether the soup was laced with some drug that made you bolder, but Riven wasn't about to question it. Instead, she decided to let herself ask it all now, then regret it later.

Irelia's eyes unfocused as she lost herself in her own thoughts for a second, forming a coherent stream of words that would best explain her reasoning behind it all.

She chuckled, then.

Irelia _chuckled._

"I can only imagine what it's like from your side," She started, "You must feel like I'm a puzzle that you must solve but you're missing all the right pieces." She said, taking into account the way Riven's head nodded subtly. "The truth is that I'm coming to terms with a few things, Riven. I'm still wrapping my head around some things that I never expected to ever happen, like seeing you again." Her eyes locked on Riven's, "When you first came in here with Diana, I immediately recognized you, but I just thought it was my head, making me see similarities where there were none." She looked down between them at the chest where Riven's sword laid, "Then I saw your broken blade and everything just…" She shook her head. "I was transported to a day I remember out of spite and I wish I could forget."

Riven felt like she could drown in the blue of Irelia's irises as she heard her speak, "The person I saw in front of me that day was the one person I've spent all my life blaming for all of my woes." Irelia explained, "All my life, I've blamed that night on you and called it a day, letting myself believe that you were dead, even if Sao told me she had the feeling that _someone else _had survived that night." She shook her head, "I didn't want to believe it, so I refused so believe it. But then, you showed up and it was all as fresh as it had always been inside my head."

She sighed, laying her head back on her chair. "I wanted to kill you, but I spared your life for Diana's sake. Then you proved you weren't the same as you had once been, in a way, and I just—" She sighed again, "I just acted on impulse and hoped you'd be back. Never regretted it, but at some point I just thought you'd never take me up on the offer."

Her eyes were on the ceiling, "I've never been sure about the exact reason _why _I invited you back, but I guess it has a lot to do with _closure." _She looked at Riven, "I think we owe each other a certain closure, regarding that night. We're the only survivors, the only witnesses to what had happened, and I _know _the ghosts of that night still haunt you. I can see it in the way you zone out when Orlon's playing with fire, or when you see someone with particularly good archery skills. I saw it in our fight, too. I _see _what haunts you, Riven," And she took a deep breath, "Because it haunts me, too." She offered her a small, sad smile, "And I can tell the signs that indicate when you're here or when you've gone somewhere else in your head, because I've learned how to hide them."

She hunched forwards, ignoring Riven's hyper focus on her. "I don't know how, yet, but I think we need to put these souls to rest, somehow, and that's something only you and I can do. I'm _done _pretending everything's fine and that there's nothing that torments me, just like I'm _done _with the animosities between us, and I _know _I'm the only one who gets hostile between you and I, so you don't have to mention it, really." She then laid back again, her eyes on Riven's, "I invited you back for closure, but I was still _too angry _about _everything _to even consider that maybe closure required peace, to think that maybe you weren't the bad guy in the story, but something else, instead: the pawn in someone else's game, following orders from my opponent, unknowingly ready to never win and lose it all."

"And what made you consider that maybe I wasn't the bad guy?"

Irelia smirked, "Sao. She can be really persistent when she feels she's right about something. She told me you weren't as bad as I had told her you'd be and you proved her right time after time."

Riven chuckled, but there was no amusement on it. "Until last training, where I proved her wrong."

But Irelia was shaking her head. "No. Last training was just _me _pushing it too far and I apologize for it." And Riven couldn't _believe _her ears, for Irellia was _apologizing to her. _"There's a lot of talking that we should have done beforehand that we didn't and I'm the only one to blame for it, even if I can tell you hate talking about that night."

Riven nodded, "I do."

"But you know we _will _have to talk about it at some point, don't you?"

_We will have to talk about it._

Irelia was offering her time to process.

Riven was grateful.

"I do."

Irelia nodded her head. "Good."

"I don't think you should apologize for the training, earlier." Riven commented, "I think we both needed that." She thought about it for a minute, "To let loose for a bit, have a go at each other and see how far we were willing to take it."

Irelia nodded, "I do think I needed that."

And she needed it for many reasons.

She needed it to see how far _she _was willing to go, how far _Riven _was willing to go.

How she felt with it all.

How bad would she feel if Riven was left with a sour taste in her mouth.

_Bad enough for it to mean something._

How similar to that night it all had been.

Yet, at the same time, how different.

"And we were willing to take it very far, apparently, but not far enough to kill each other."

"I had my sword against your neck, Irelia."

Irelia _smiled. "_And you didn't do it."

And Riven _knew _she was right.

She _knew, _because she had fought every voice in her head in that moment.

Every vile voice telling her to _do it, _she had cursed them all to the Void and stopped herself.

And the only reason behind her trying to convince Irelia that she was _dangerous _was to prevent it from happening _again._

And that alone spoke a lot about Riven's stance on killing Irelia.

But she couldn't tell Irelia that she lost control of herself, that she not only sees ghosts but is sometimes possessed by them, being caged in her own mind as they make her go mad.

She didn't dare.

She _knew _that Irelia suspected something of the sorts, though.

She could see it in those cunning eyes.

She just didn't know the extent of it, yet.

There were many questions left to ask, but no answers they were willing to share.

Yet.

So Riven simply replied. "I didn't do it."

Irelia seemed pleased, and she got up from her seat when she saw Riven yawn. "I'll let you sleep," She said, taking the tray from Riven's lap and placing it again on her desk. "You'll have a day free of training tomorrow so that you can recover a bit more. If you need anything, I'm on the—"

"Third door to the left, I know."

"Oh, you remembered."

"I did." Riven shook her head, correcting herself, "Do. I do."

"That's good."

"What about _you _and _your _recovery?" Riven asked her as she eyed the bandages on her neck, her cheek. "You were also kind of injured."

And then Irelia was sporting the look of someone that knows a dirty secret you don't want to share with anyone, "I don't need rest as much as you do."

Riven gulped. What did Irelia know? Why the smirky face, the raised brow?

"Okay," Riven replied instead, watching as Irelia left the tray but picked up her paperwork and her pen. "Goodnight, Irelia."

"Goodnight, Riven," She said, heading to the door and turning the knob—

"Will you be joining us in training again?" Riven quickly asked.

Irelia stopped.

"I don't really know how good of an idea that is."

"I don't want you to think you can't," Riven explained, "I think you're a very good trainer for them. Definitely taught them more than I could ever do."

She heard Irelia huff a laugh. "Really?"

"Yes."

"We'll see about it, then." Irelia finished, then made her way out and locked the door.

Riven laid back down and, as she moved her hand to her neck, she quickly found her Lunari charm, the one that she wore on a chain as a necklace.

It made her realize two things.

One, that she hadn't thought of Diana in too long, today being the first time since what seemed like forever that she called her name.

_Blame it on the stress._

Two, that now Irelia knew of the charm and she'd probably be _insufferable _about it.

Riven groaned.

* * *

Author's note:

Hello! Happy Sunday y'all! I cannot stop writing so please send help.

For the peeps who asked whether I had this all written and I just split it in 3 and updated 3 different days OR if I really DO write that fast: I _DO _write that fast. I actually would write one full chapter and the beginning of the next one, then say "Hey no wait, I should had splitted it THERE" And then just take the beginning I had written and continue from there. Did that on the three consecutive updates and I almost do the same on this one, but yesterday I couldn't finish it so I finished it today instead.

Maybe updates will be a tad bit slower now (as in, not everyday LMFAO) because I have to go back to class, but I WILL keep em coming, don't worry.


	13. Transgressive Border Crossing

Riven couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror.

_What do they put on their healing ointments in here?_

The cuts that had been all over her were almost fully gone, as if nothing had happened, a barely-there, reddish line on each former wound, the promise of a future, small scar on each place she had had her skin opened.

Having taken a bath already, her full day of rest well gone as she spent it mostly sleeping and eating, taking a few minutes every hour to stretch her sore self, Riven got her training robes on and prepared to leave her room.

As she reached the door, she considered taking her sword with her.

She frowned, then. Did she even know where her sword was?

She bolted to her chest and opened it, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw her Targonian armor, her sword resting idly on top of it.

She guessed it must have been Irelia who put it there.

She thought about taking it for another second.

She stared at it, felt it tugging at her very soul, demanding she grabbed it and took it with her.

She _heard it _demand it.

Whispers that grew with every second she remained still—

She promptly closed the chest.

_There's no reason for me to carry it._

So she took a leap of faith of sorts and blindly trusted the anguish that asked her to leave it there.

Moving quickly to the door before she could regret her decisions, Riven left the room unarmed, leaving cursing, whispering voices behind.

* * *

She pretended she didn't feel all eyes on her when she made it to the training camps.

It was almost impossible, though, considering all voices suddenly fell quiet.

"Riven!" She heard Orlon call for her and Riven turned to see him approaching her, thanking whichever deity was listening to her for the distraction he provided. "You're out of your cave."

She was getting tired of people _stating the obvious _to her.

She frowned at him, before inspecting herself, "You're lying!" She looked at him again, "Am I? For real?" She asked, laughing as Orlon shoved her a bit.

"Piss off."

"It's okay, I know you missed me."

"Like Hell." And the sarcasm on his tone wasn't missed, but Riven smiled at the harmless joke. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Still a bit sore, but I'm good to go."

But he hadn't meant that. She knew, for she could see it in his eyes.

Orlon knew something else and wanted to ask her about it, though he was wary about it.

_Good. Let him be wary._

After all, there was a reason why she hadn't shared the extent of her abilities and it wasn't just to _hide _her potential.

She simply didn't like the questions that usually came right after.

"That's good to hear." He replied, and he seemed genuinely happy about it, so Riven smiled back, letting him join the rest of the rookies as Ban and Sao appeared, the Noxian taking her rightful place by their side, standing in front of everyone else.

Once again, ignoring the morbidly curious stares.

"Okay, soldiers!" Ban started, the sound of approaching footsteps making him look to his right, "Let's start the warm up…"

They all noticed he trailed off.

Everyone turned to look at what had caught his attention.

_Irelia _was jogging her way towards them.

She stopped by the three Captains, "Good morning," She said to them, before turning to the soldiers with a frown on her face. "Those with magical abilities, to the left. Those without, to the right. Start warming up after that." She clapped her hands together, "Come on! Quick!"

"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" Sao asked with a frown as she watched them split in two groups, "Shouldn't you be taking care of some more important matters?"

"I'm kind of tired of paperwork," Irelia replied dryly, "So I'll be joining the training of this troop from now on."

Both Sao and Ban were left even more confused than before, clear in the way both of them said in unison, "What?"

"Irelia," Sao started, a raised brow in inquisition, "What is this about?"

Irelia shrugged, "It's about me, training with other people for a bit. I feel like it's a good idea and I need a break from being suffocated by papers."

And her eyes landed on Riven.

The Noxian saw the faint ghost of a smile on her lips.

She could practically read the words implied to come after her kind of unfinished sentence.

_And I'm Irelia Lito, so I do what I want._

Riven looked away, the ants on the ground suddenly _very _interesting.

"Well, okay but, couldn't you warn us in advance?" Ban asked, "Now I feel like we've woken up early in vain."

"Making me feel useless is _definitely _crossing a line in our friendship, Irelia."

Irelia regarded them with a raised brow, "You two aren't off-duty here. I'm going to train along with you and provide some directions, but I won't be training the soldiers." She said, "You," She looked at Sao, "Will train the mages and _you," _She looked at Ban, "Will train the non-magical."

"And you?"

"I'll train with Riven." She said.

"What?"

This time, the _three _of them had asked it in unison.

Irelia looked at Riven. "You and I will be training together, while the rest follow Ban and Sao's orders."

Riven shook her head in confusion, "But shouldn't I be helping them with it? Considering I'm a Captain and all—"

"Consider yourself released from that task. Now, your duty is be my training partner." Irelia raised her brow millimetrically. "Is that clear?"

Riven gulped.

_Because she's Irelia Lito and she does what she wants._

"Yes, my Captain."

And something in those light eyes grew dark at the words Riven let out.

"And what are we supposed to do with these two groups you formed?" Sao asked Irelia, both her and her brother feeling the strangeness to Irelia and Riven's interaction.

Irelia shrugged. "Torture them a bit. Make them beat each other up, but exploiting what they're good at. I don't know," She placed a hand on Ban's shoulder and another one on Sao's, "You're somewhat on your own here. Good luck. Riven," She looked at the Noxian, "With me."

And as Irelia attempted to turn and walk away, she felt Sao grip her forearm, _hard._

She Blade Dancer looked into her friend's eyes.

She could see the warning in them as clear as day.

She was asking her to be careful and look out for herself, but she was also telling her she'd be watching them.

Looking out for both of them, specially considering she didn't know where Irelia was going to with this weird scheme of hers, so unexpected yet real.

Irelia's head moved in a nodding motion, before Sao released her and she turned, walking only a few steps away from them all as Sao moved towards the mages and Ban towards the rest, Riven trailing after the blue eyed Captain.

She realized Irelia was taking them far enough so that they were out of earshot, but too far, so as not to lose sight of the troop.

So as not to have the troop lose sight of them, either.

"So, you did join us again," Riven started as she followed, once she was certain no one could eavesdrop on them. "What convinced you to do it?"

Irelia turned to face her, finishing her walk away from the rest, "Nothing in particular," She replied, her eyes on the soldiers behind Riven, before they moved towards the Noxian's. "I just remembered someone telling me I was a good trainer."

Riven huffed a laugh, "That someone is wise."

"Yeah," Irelia said, "But I don't know if I should believe her."

"No?" She saw Irelia shake her head. "Why?"

"Because she's a _liar."_

Riven frowned. "I—"

"You talk such a big game, about how you're so powerful," She started, getting closer to the Noxian, "But the truth is that you left the fight, the other day, so that you could _pass out _against a tree." She smirked, "You burst out your strength in a short-lived frenzy and then you're _dead, _unlike others like me, who play the long game. You can only last for so long before you're drained. Meanwhile, I can go on for hours. Even days."

Riven closed her eyes, if only to shut out Irelia for a second.

Why was it so easy to be suggestive when talking about fighting?

"I don't know what you're—"

"You're lacking stamina, Riven." Irelia said, her words closer than before. "Evident in how I was still awake at three in the morning and you were yawning, ready to sleep some more after having woken up only a few minutes ago, so we're going to work on that, you and I."

She didn't know what was making her so uncomfortable, for the kind of dizziness that took over her body wasn't alike the fear she had felt the last time, being something far gentler instead, but she tried to tackle the matter anyway, suddenly very put off by the idea she had enjoyed earlier of Irelia joining their training.

Because when she had suggested she did so, she certainly didn't expect to be training with Irelia rather _privately._

"Do you think this is a good idea?" She quietly asked the Ionian, slowly opening her eyes to fond her standing face to face with her, the Captain of the Guard being of her same height.

And she saw right through Irelia's steel resolve, as she relaxed her shoulders and sighed.

"I know I overstepped last time we trained together, but we're going to take it slow, this time." She smiled, "Do you think you can trust me on this?"

And Riven felt the need to say _I want to believe I can trust you on everything._

"No, but you give the orders around here, so it's not like I have much of a choice here." She said instead.

Irelia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, that steely expression back on, though it didn't look as intimidating as it had once been, Riven decided. "Good." She was glaring at Riven, but there was no anger behind the expression, having it be a harmless game. "Now, let's see just how good you are on hand to hand."

* * *

"Please," She took a few gulps of breath. "A minute. I only ask for a minute."

"There's no minutes in war."

And Riven only had a fraction of a second to dodge the hook that came for her cheek.

Irelia had been right: she had no stamina whatsoever.

Their first minutes of training had been easy enough, with both Riven and Irelia throwing punches and dodging the other's attempts, almost equaled, though Riven found Irelia's guard down more times than Irelia found hers.

But after the fifteen minute mark, she had started to lose her breath.

And she could see Irelia was just then getting started.

The Captain started to advance on her, slowly dominating her more and more, until Riven was left completely breathless, exhausted to no end and even dizzy due to the lack of oxygen, which persuaded Irelia to _lower _her aggressiveness, but it wasn't enough to make her halt it completely.

"Irelia, _please—"_

"I can't believe you're actually _begging." _Irelia laughed, before trying to kick Riven's head, who threw herself to the ground face-first to dodge, too tired to try anything else.

"I feel like I'm going to pass out." Riven said, jagged breaths making her back rise and fall.

Irelia placed a foot on Riven's back, then bent over until her face was close enough to Riven's, "I told you; you have no endurance." She brought her foot to Riven's side and lifted her with it, making her turn and land on her back. "You look so intimidating and scary but that's only in the first few moments: as long as your opponent remains perseverant, you're dead meat."

"I don't need to last too long," Riven replied from the ground, "I can defeat anyone on the first round."

Irelia, her feet to each side of Riven's body, dropped to her knees so that she was straddling the Noxian, smirking at how Riven's expression went from tiredly-cocky to tiredly-fearful. "You didn't defeat me."

And with no other warning, Irelia started throwing punches at the white haired woman, who was quick to bring her hands up and protect her face, but had no energy left to try and get Irelia off of her.

The attempts to attack her were half hearted and she _knew, _but they were still painful. "Irelia! _Stop!"_

Irelia frowned, "I have no mercy for Noxus." She said and Riven could _hear _the amusement in her voice.

She manage to catch her wrists, but Irelia twisted her hands and ended up grabbing hers and pinning them to the dirt, bringing her face a few inches closer and staring into Riven's eyes with a focused frown.

Riven felt how she was scrutinizing her and wondered whatever was Irelia thinking, blue eyes unmoving from her own.

Whatever it was, it must have been good, for Irelia smirked, then, her scowl gone. "Okay, we're done," She said, before getting up and offering Riven her hand.

Riven moved to grab it—

Irelia moved it away, "Too slow."

Riven felt terribly humiliated by this point. "_Irelia!"_

The Captain _laughed, _before stretching her hand again.

This time, Riven caught it and Irelia brought her up to her feet.

"Come on," Irelia walked ahead, looking as fresh as she had looked when she had just arrived at their training. "Let's have lunch for a bit."

And Riven's embarrassment wasn't as bad as she had thought.

* * *

Riven fell to her bed, exhausted, hair still wet after her bath.

It had been quite a few days already since they started training together.

And bit by bit, she realized, they grew closer.

"Breathe slower on the seconds you're not receiving nor delivering punches," Irelia had once let out between breaths, talking to a sweaty Riven, "It'll help you save some energy.", She han explained, watching as Riven nodded her head and relaxed her heavy breathing, before letting all the air out as she prepared for Irelia's punch to her gut.

They trained together every day, starting with the rest of the troop and finishing hours and hours after the night had already settled.

"What time is it?" Irelia had asked once, as she laid beneath an attacking Riven.

The Noxian had looked up to the sky, "It must be midn—"

Irelia had then taken advantage of the situation and flipped them, landing on top and bringing a fist up.

Riven's eyes had widened and she quickly deflected the blow, "What was that for?!"

"For making me believe you were dead, that time we _fought." _Irelia had replied, mirth making her eyes shine, the hint of a smile on her lips.

She never let herself actually smile, so Riven had grinned at her, something wild on her moonlit face, and continued sparring.

And just like that, they started to know each other.

Better. Deeper.

Riven had learned Irelia was younger than her by only two years.

She realized it meant that, when she had attempted to invade Ionia as the first nineteen-year-old Hand of Noxus, let alone the first one to ever attempt such a feat, Irelia had been as young as seventeen, the only Ionian to ever manage to kick all of Noxus out of her country.

Period.

No one else had ever accomplished something like that.

No one ever accomplished the feat of kicking the Noxian army out.

Only Ionia.

_Only Irelia._

It made Riven realize she was learning from the best there was.

It made her realize she was so far from being the Perfect Leader,

Perfect Soldier, yes, but never the Leader.

She learned Irelia's brother was supposed to be the Captain of the Guard, but he wasn't in Ionia when the Noxian attack happened and she took over, so she ended up being elected as the Captain instead of him.

She also learned that Ionia currently had no real leader, so Irelia took care of running the First Lands until they arranged whatever election they had to go over.

It helped her understand that Ionia was _very _out of balance, considering all of the troubles Irelia had to go through; never being quite done with work despite it being the only thing she did, she also had to deal with the Kinkou Order, the Order of Shadows, the Shojin monks, those more roguish and lone-wolf-like and the Vastaya and did Irelia _ever_ catch a break, really?

She had learned to see the dark circles under her eyes, the stifled yawns and the millimetrically sluggish movements that indicated just how little sleep the woman got every night.

It reminded her how, eventually, during her nightly walks, she grew bolder and started allowing herself to walk past her door, specially the times when she knew Irelia wasn't walking around like her, but asleep, instead.

At first, her heart would beat so fast in her chest that she wouldn't be able to hear anything past its' own beating.

After a few nights, she started pressing her ear against the door.

And it was faint, almost mute in how quiet it was, but it was _there._

Whining and moaning, whimpering and mumbling, sometimes even _crying._

It was then when she learned Irelia's ghosts haunted her in her very dreams, too.

Nevermind that Irelia had somewhat told her; she needed the empirical proof and it was _right there._

And, for a second, she wondered whether Irelia saw them while awake, too, just like she had done, just like she still occasionally did.

She wondered if they were still there when she had her eyes open.

She didn't dare venture into the room, wake her up and spare her from the monstrosities.

Not yet.

She was learning about her.

And just like she did, Irelia learned, too.

Not as explicitly, since she feigned a certain detachment, but she learned.

She learned that her sword had been a gift given to her by Darkwill, the day she was ranked as the Hand of Noxus, being the youngest to ever fill that position.

She learned about the runes carved in the black blade and what each of them meant.

She had watched Riven one night after they trained, as the Noxian dragged her finger across the dirt, drawing the runes as she explained what they did, what they stood for.

Power, strength, speed and domination.

Irelia hadn't needed to see the drawings: she would never forget how they looked like, the memory of that dreadful night burned against the insides of her eyelids.

She had looked at Riven as she drew, instead.

She learned about the Crimson Elite, a squadron so secret she hadn't known much about their existence, being almost completely oblivious about them.

She had told Riven all she knew about them is that they were the deadliest thing Noxus had to offer, so quietly handled that people usually thought they were a legend, but that she thought they were real.

Riven had responded by commenting, almost offhandedly, that she was their leader.

Irelia's eyes had widened at that.

"You actually met them," Riven had said.

And that's all it took for Irelia to understand that she had _fought _against them.

The small squadron of Noxians that had helped Riven escort the wagon that then exploded.

They learned about each other, but a few things remained secret, yet.

Irelia didn't know about Riven's family, whatever happened to her whenever her eyes turned green, the reasons why she had never discarded the sword nor why was she left with only a piece of it, the rest broken and gone with time.

She didn't dare ask, yet.

So, despite the fact that she was actually finding herself _enjoying _Riven's company, she tried to avoid spending _too _much time with her.

She found it kind of futile, since Riven seemed hellbent on pursuing her, whenever she was aware of Irelia being free.

_And _why _do you do that?_

And funnily enough, Riven asked herself the same thing.

Why _do I do this?_

No matter how many times she tried asking herself that question, she couldn't answer it.

She couldn't answer it, whenever she walked by Irelia's door and brought her hand up, to knock on it, only to stop at the very last second.

She couldn't answer it, every time she walked by the rooms in the Placidium that she knew Irelia frequented, eager to talk to the Ionian, only to find her busy, talking with someone else.

She couldn't answer it right in that moment, as she walked to the balcony where she knew Irelia would stand and watch them train, for she had confessed so in one of their trainings.

She would have knocked on the door to Irelia's office, but it was left ajar.

Steeling herself and not allowing the voice inside her head to deter her from doing it, she pushed it open and walked in.

Irelia's desk was unoccupied, which was uncanny, to say the least. Behind it, the balcony doors that she had once thought were just windows, were wide open.

She saw no one.

She heard voices.

Riven slowed down, not daring a step closer to the open double doors that took her from Irelia's office to her balcony.

"...Now they've got the way clear to…"

She stopped _breathing _altogether.

That voice was _not _Irelia's.

Slow enough that the movement was almost imperceptible, she started drifting closer to the door.

"I've heard _enough _of that."

_That _was Irelia.

"Irelia," A feminine voice, strangely familiar for Riven. "I'm not telling you what to do. I'm merely _warning you _about _Zed's—"_

"I don't care about the stupid rumours you heard around, Akali."

_Akali._

Riven recalled that name.

She hadn't been near Irelia when she had showed up, during the last battle of Ionia, but she remembered Diana telling her about how an assassin had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and had spared Irelia's life from Katarina DuCoteau's blade.

Riven's eyebrows rose.

It took _a lot _to defeat Katarina. That much she knew.

For this assassin to hold the ability to keep _Katarina _at bay…

_Skilled._

_Very much so._

_Deadlier than death._

She heard the so-called Akali sigh. "These are _not _rumours, Irelia. This is _real." _She heard footsteps, "But this is a conversation to have in private and, right now, we're not alone."

Before either Irelia could question that statement, before Riven could even register what Akali had said, the assassin spoke again, "See you soon."

And then Riven dared move towards the open balcony doors, walking around Irelia's desk, looking out through them only to find Irelia to a side, alone, turning to look at her at the sound of Riven knocking on the glass so as to call her attention.

She looked surprised, but not displeased by her presence. "Riven."

Suddenly Riven didn't know what to do with herself. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"I would say you didn't, but I'll take it you've heard _at least _the end of that conversation."

Riven closed her eyes, as if trying to reorganize the words in her head before she let out a stream of rambling. "Yeah, I mean, I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't _eavesdropping _or anything—"

"But you _were." _Irelia corrected her, walking into the room. "Because, if you hadn't hoped to spy on me, you would have knocked on the door, even if I forgot it open, or at least you would have called my name loud enough."

Riven knew her face was beet red.

She had been caught.

The smirk on Irelia's face was enough to let her know the Ionian knew it.

Irelia patted her shoulder, "It's okay, Riven." She raised a brow, "I can't say I wouldn't have done the same." She walked to the sofas to their left, taking a seat on the armrest, looking at Riven, "Although, to be honest," She let herself fall back, her head landing comfortably on the other armrest. "I would have done it _better. _Would have even gotten away with it."

"Really?" Riven asked as she crossed her arms in front of her, watching Irelia nod. "Why do you think that?"

Irelia shrugged, "Dancer's grace and all that. I know how to move better than you, so I'm definitely stealthier."

Riven was making a face. "I don't believe you."

But then Irelia looked at her with such a bored expression that all Riven could do was snort, "Okay, fine, you win. I _do _believe you." She said, then moved towards the free sofa and took a seat on it as she heard Irelia say _Thank you, you ugly liar, _which prompted her to raise a brow, "Excuse me? What was that? _Ugly liar?"_

Irelia was still looking at Riven like she hadn't said anything new, "Where is the lie on _my _statement? You're an ugly liar."

Riven rolled her eyes, "Whatever. You like me."

"I really don't." Irelia said and then, before Riven could protest, she pointed at the wall—

"Who did that?" Riven asked rather incredulously, as she stared at her name, written on a piece of paper, pinned to a small target, Irelia's blades embedded into it, as if someone had thrown them aiming at the letters on the wall.

"Who do you think? I did."

"That was _definitely _not here yesterday."

"How would you know that?"

Now it was Riven's turn to look _bored. _"Because you never made it to our training, so went to your room looking for you. Since no one answered, I came to your office and _here you were, _found dead on your desk," She tried not to laugh at Irelia's mumbled, _On my defense, we start training too early, _"And that target was _definitely not _on that wall."

Irelia chuckled, unable to fight it, "Okay, fine. You win. I didn't do it. Ban did." She nodded her head at Riven's raised eyebrows.

"I knew he didn't like me."

"It's not that he doesn't like you. I think he's just envious."

"Envious?" She heard Irelia hum a _yes. _"Of _what, _exactly?"

"Well, ever since I became _Ionia's Liberator _and all that, all Captains consider training with me a _privilege." _She shrugged, "I think he's just envious of the fact that you train with me." She let her head hang off the armrest before mumbling, "We're all either Captains or soldiers here. I really should start looking into Ionian ranks and hierarchies."

And Riven would have agreed, but she was still stuck on Ban being _envious. _""So he's mad at me because he has a crush on you."

Nevermind that she was the _reason _why Irelia was _Ionia's Liberator._

_Thank me in some other life, Ban._

And the Noxian had to fight the laugh that bubbled up her throat at the sight of Irelia suddenly sitting up, _a deadly glare _on her face. "He _doesn't." _She said, as if disgusted by the mere thought. "But yeah, he dislikes you because he would rather have me training with him, instead of with you. But that's not your business, to be honest," She started again, laying back down. "Everyone on the First Lands seems hellbent on placing me on some kind of pedestal I don't want to be in, so if it brings them trouble because I don't respond to their expectations, then that's _their _problem to deal with."

Riven contemplated those words, "Well, while I _do _agree that having more attention than the one desired is awful, I have to admit that I would be _jealous, _too." She smirked, "I may say I hate it, but training with you is really doing wonders to my stamina."

"I know," Irelia said, letting herself be flattered but not humble enough to thank the Noxian. "You can last longer than just a few minutes, now."

And Riven tried not to misunderstand that. "Exactly."

Silence took over for a little bit, both rather distracted with the fire that seemed to be constantly burning in the office's fireplace, the flame so potentially deadly being nothing but calm, so uncannily gentle when the cracking sounds were of burning wood and not of crushed bones.

"Who's Akali?"

"She's…" Irelia trailed off, sighing, "She's a very long story."

"Well, I'm patient," Riven offered, "And I've got nowhere else to be, really."

"You're patient, but I'm _not." _Came the quick response.

Riven raised a brow, but still didn't look at Irelia. "You're such a walking contradiction," She said, echoing something that still reverberated in her head and she _knew _Irelia would catch it, but then she _did _look at the Captain and quickly took some weight off the loaded words, "I remember you saying that you were the _most patient, _not too long ago."

Irelia narrowed her eyes. "People change, as you probably know."

It was a soothing caress to Riven's soul, the fact that now Irelia _could admit _that people can, actually change.

Just like she had done, in a way.

Even if she was still the same.

Different, yet the same.

"So quickly?"

"Faster than light."

Riven rolled her eyes. "Alright."

And Irelia realized then that she had a question she had been meaning to ask but had forgotten about, "What are you doing here?"

And there was no sarcasm, no insult, no _nothing _to it.

She was just genuinely _curious._

Riven was just as curious, if she was honest.

"Do you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to lie?"

"Truth."

"I honestly have no idea." Riven said, eyes a bit wide. She shrugged, "I don't know, I think I've just spent so much time around you lately that being away from you now feels _weird." _She grimaced, "Does it make sense?"

"No, not at all," Irelia said, looking at her with fake concern on her face. "If anything, you should be tired of seeing my face all the time."

"Well, I like to swim against the current."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "I _know." _Trust me, I _do."_

And then Irelia was yawning, which reminded Riven of a thing she had wished to talk with the Ionian. "You should stop overworking yourself."

"I don't _overwork _myself."

"Yes, you _do. _Every day and every night." She turned on her seat to fully face Irelia. "You should delegate some work to somebody else, cut yourself some slack."

Irelia was shaking her head. "I can't. All my work is regarding the fact that we have no government of sorts at the moment. I need _leaders _and I'm the only one around here."

"Well, _I _used to be a leader."

Irelia sat up again, mirth on her expression. "You?" She laughed, "Riven, you were the leader of the _Noxian army."_

"Exactly!" Riven exclaimed, "I would basically lead an _empire, _Irelia." She thought about it for a second and then, "And if there is _one _thing that Noxus and Ionia have in common, is that they're the biggest countries in all of Runeterra."

"Shurima is big, too." Irelia said, as if intent on countering everything Riven said, "And the Freljord."

Riven _knew _there was no convincing her. "Fine," She dropped the subject, "Let me know when you stop being stubborn, my Captain."

And she had meant it in a mocking way, the nickname.

But it had made Irelia smirk at her, anyway.

Apparently, her Captain liked being called just _that._

_Do you have some power trip, my Captain?_

Best not think about it.

Could lead to misunderstandings.

And as silence slowly took over them again, Irelia stretched, laid back down and, not knowing what prompted the desire to just _talk, _she allowed herself to give in to the wish and did so. "What you heard a while ago, when Akali was here…" She sighed, "She means well. She's a loner but cares about Ionia, so whenever she learns something that might be of my interest, she comes and informs me of it." She looked at Riven, only to find her staring right back, "She was telling me about the Order of Shadows and what they are apparently planning to do."

"Magical militarization."

Irelia smirked, "Oh so you _were _eavesdropping, then?"

Riven rolled her eyes, but her face had heated up. "Oh shut up, that's _all _I heard, really."

But Irelia regarded her with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk and Riven had to look away for a second, positive that her face was even redder than before. "It's _the truth!" _She pretty much squealed in an accidentally high-pitched voice, feeling even _worse _at the unexpected break of her usually smooth voice.

Irelia finally broke her stare, "Okay, I'll believe you," She said, her eyes landing on the fire again, before sighing and resuming the topic, "This organization has a former member of the Kinkou Order whose name is _Zed _as their leader. This _man," _Irelia seemed to despise him, Riven noted, judging by the face she had pulled, the tone she had used. "Believes that _balance is a fool's master, _so he practically disregards and even _mocks all _Ionian traditions, and wishes to create a strong military force with magic at the front."

Riven was listening, intently, hoping to help Irelia vent out to her and feel better, but at the same time letting the strategist inside of her try and find a way to aid her against her foes, threats or whatever these people were. "Well, from a Ionian point of view, it's definitely wrong, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's bad for _you_." She reasoned, "He appears to only wish to protect Ionia."

Irelia was shaking her head. "But his protection of this land requires destroying everything we hold sacred and rebuilding it anew with _hatred _in our hearts. He wants us to follow what we understand as the Noxian example and for Ionia to turn into a new, rising, conqueror's empire." She was _glaring _at the fire, "I _can't _let that happen. That's not how these lands were built nor how these lands have prospered and that's definitely _not _how they will be. We are an _example _of harmony and we shall keep being so." She looked at Riven with _anger _but one that was not aimed at her but at the man inside her head, "We are powerful in our element without losing our pacific ways. We will improve our military since it's necessary, sure, but that doesn't mean we've got to fall into darkness to do so. I will _not _allow it."

And she sounded so final in her decision, like this was something she had been thinking about for a while, even if she felt _disgusted _by the mere idea…

It was a far more final decision than the ones she had done regarding Riven at _any _given moment in time.

It meant this was _bad. _Very, _very _bad and Irelia didn't like it _one bit._

"I see," Riven finally said, and she did so because she could totally understand Irelia's point: Zed wanted to destroy Ionian culture and build a cruel one in its' place, following _what they understand as the Noxian example._

Because Irelia now believes _Riven _is the Noxian example, everything else that could be it being just a darker side of it that the former Hand of Noxus lacked.

Noxus itself not being an example of their ways, but a lame attempt at pretending so.

It made Riven's chest swell with something, to know Irelia's views on something as _sensitive _as that had changed.

And all because of her and _only _her.

_If I managed to make her change her mind…. Maybe being a Noxian in this scenario isn't that bad, after all._

The point remained that the Order of Shadows wanted to do something that seemed to imply overthrowing Irelia's temporary government and, knowing what Noxus was and what Ionians _believed _it was, it also implied bloodbaths, pain, suffering, destruction, possibly slavery and public executions.

It meant damning the balance, forever.

And there was nothing Ionians took better care of than the balance of their lives.

Riven had always somewhat admired it, even as the most revered Noxian, in her past.

So she could understand and even _back _Irelia's point of view on it.

"And won't the Kinkou Order take care of such a matter?" She asked, "Because this seems to be their responsibility, considering this is a former member of theirs."

Irelia groaned, "That's the worst part: what Akali was telling me is that, apparently, the Kinkou Order and the Order of Shadows have ceased their animosities, managing to create some pact or whatever between them where they stated they would not interfere in the other's plans." She looked _helpless, _"They reached _peace, _so now there's almost _nothing _to stop the Order of Shadows from doing as they please."

Riven grimaced. "The Kinkou Order sounds like it's composed of idiots."

"In my book, they're worse than the Order of Shadows for daring a sort of alliance with them." If looks could kill, Riven was positive she would be _dead. _"They took in someone who was not fit for that kind of life and then let the _mistake _wander around, with deadly knowledge and weapons. They can go to Hell for that, those useless pieces of scum." She looked at the fire again, before mumbling, "_We care about keeping Ionia balanced _my ass."

Riven was amazed at how freely Irelia expressed herself in front of her, a thing that definitely did not happen before. "Without them in the game, who else is there to face them?"

"Me, Akali, if my guess based on her helping me is correct, because you never know with her, the Vastayans…" She shook her head, "No one is happy with the Order of Shadows, but everyone is too terrified of them to do something about it, so there's only a few of us who dare."

"The really brave ones."

Irelia nodded her head, "Or the insane ones, but it doesn't really matter at this point."

Only one question remained.

"And _why _does this Zed man want to militarize Ionia's magic? What prompted him to do it?"

And Irelia looked _pained _to say it, as if she didn't want Riven to take any blame about it when she spilled, "Because he wants to take revenge on Noxus for their invasions." She looked _sorry _about telling her, "During the first one, he created the Order with the intention of kicking them out, which he _could _thank me for, since _I _did all the work, and then, instead of being dismantled, he just turned it into something _worse _and now he wants _justice," _She looked _annoyed _at the concept, as if this man was delusional for daring veil his motives behind the concept of justice, "So he wants to invade Noxus. An eye for an eye…"

"And the world goes blind." Riven finished, though her mind was somewhere else, lost between Irelia's words. "_First one?" _She echoed, "Are you telling me Noxus invaded Ionia again after _my _invasion?"

She had _no clue _how she was able to mention it so freely, how she could feel nothing about it, as if they were talking about the weather, how guilt had not come for her soul.

Maybe it had to do with the fact that she was talking to Irelia, of all people.

_Someone who understands._

_The only one who does, at least, at this level._

Irelia was frowning at her, "No, there was one _before _yours." She said, "Didn't you know?"

Riven shook her head, completely blown by this information.

Irelia sat up again, her eyes on Riven. "Some years before you came, Noxus attempted their first invasion. It was far more successful than yours, for they even occupied the country for a while. I was maybe thirteen, I can't remember well," She said, shaking her head. "But I remember how they took us from our home, my family and I, I mean." She explained, "It's a very long story, but they remained in the country for a long time, before a rebellion forced them out."

"And you were at the front of this rebellion?" Riven asked, watching Irelia hesitate.

"Not… _exactly." _She started, "I mean, _yes, _but at the moment I believe nobody knew who I was."

She laid back down once more, her eyes on the ceiling. "Some important Noxian tried to take the Lito crest from our house and I tried to stop him, so he crushed it on the ground and broke it." She explained to a _Noxian, _curiously enough, "I could only look at them on the ground and feel sorrow, but then I felt them _tugging _at my soul, I don't even know how to explain it." She shook her head, as if Riven could see the faint movement from her position, "So I followed my gut and moved, danced in the way my grandmother taught me and then the crest took flight into the air."

Riven realized then that this story Irelia was telling her was the origin of her _blades._

It was both impressive and sad, she decided, for she had never asked but she had always questioned where those blades had come from.

"I didn't think as I moved, I just did it," She heard Irelia continue, "And in my dancing, I took that man's arm out, leaving him out of the fight, ready to die." She frowned at the ceiling, "I knew then what I had to do and I fought my way through a whole Noxian battalion. Apparently, doing something so unexpectedly efficient, like dancing in the middle of a fight, is bound to leave your opponent confused."

"Well, it's counterintuitive," Riven offered, "You manage to excel at fighting by doing something that, naturally, should get you killed on a fight."

Only one of her own kind existing in the world.

Riven decided she was grateful it was that way, for it meant nobody knew how to deal with her, so there was no way she would have lost against Noxus that one time.

She was _glad _Irelia hadn't lost against Noxus.

_Because losing against Noxus means death._

"Eventually, people joined me in the fight and _that's _how we kicked Noxus out: by sticking together and fighting side by side, balance being restored." She finished explaining. "By the second invasion, we were far more prepared."

Riven raised her brows.

_Wouldn't I know._

"But the point remains that we've kicked Noxus out _twice _without the need to fall into what Zed wants us to." She finished, "So he will get what he wants over my cold, dead body."

"Hopefully we won't reach that point." Riven blurted out.

Irelia moved her head around enough to get a visual on Riven, "_We?"_

Riven shrugged, hiding her nervousness at being caught with a slip of the tongue. "Well, yeah. I'm a Captain too, right? It means I must follow you, wherever you go."

Irelia smiled.

Riven fought the sigh of relief that wanted to escape her.

_Nice save._

And before the silence could get too long, "I'm sorry about it all, Irelia." She started, ignoring the feeling of the Captain's eyes on her. "I'm sorry about the first invasion and I'm _definitely _sorry about the second one."

Irelia shrugged, "You were just doing what was right for you in that moment—"

"I'm sorry that we were placed in opposite teams," She continued, cutting her off but kind of replying to her statement. "I'm sorry we had to fight _each other _and not _together. _I'm sorry about all of the repercussions, the pain, the hard work and the stress that the Noxian invasions have caused you and your country."

_Noxian _invasions and not _our _invasions, for she was not a part of them anymore.

She wasn't a part of anything, anywhere, really.

_Not even Targon at this point._

"I'm sorry about it all, Irelia." She finished, repeating herself. "I'm truly sorry."

And it was the most heartfelt thing she had said to the Captain, ever.

Maybe the most heartfelt thing she had ever said.

Her soul felt like a burden had been lifted, one that had been there for a long time.

_Maybe this is what I've been looking for, ever since waking up in that battlefield._

_The chance to apologize, forgiveness itself not that essential, but the _chance _to admit to my guilt._

It felt good.

She wasn't aware of Irelia moving from her spot until she felt the Ionian's hand on her shoulder, the woman crouching so as to come face to face with the Noxian, who was looking down.

There was a softer kind of smile on Irelia's face. "I want you to know that I will not allow you to repent and ask for forgiveness."

_Well, there it goes, my chance at being pardoned._

"I won't," Irelia continued, "Because if it hadn't been for that war, I would have never come face to face with you, a moment in time essential for the Rakkor, as you must know, and for us to meet here." She stood tall, then, "And I definitely won't accept you shunning Noxus. It made you who you are today and I would _definitely _not like you if you were any different."

Riven wanted to say _Many things happened that formed the woman I am today, _because it wasn't all Noxus.

Instead, she said, "You like me?"

And had she ever seen Irelia blush before? Had she ever seen Irelia being caught in one of her slips?

She wasn't sure whether this was a first or if she was imagining it, but she took pride in hearing Irelia say, "Maybe."

And a _maybe _was _enough._

More than enough for her.

She watched as Irelia took a seat on her armrest, instead of going back to her own sofa.

And suddenly she remembered something she had locked somewhere inside her head, for she didn't know what she could ever do with that information.

She remembered it because maybe now was the time to say it out loud.

"Irelia," She started, hearing the Captain hum next to her. "About the whole _Revenge against Noxus _thing…"

"Yes?" She sounded a bit wary about where this was going.

"Would _you _be interested in partaking on it?"

Irelia didn't even think her answer. "At this point, I just wish Ionia doesn't get involved in anything that has Noxus in it. We've had _enough _of that and it's time to let it go."

"What about justice, then?" She looked at Irelia, "Real justice."

She was curious enough, "What are you talking about here, Riven?"

"I'm talking about forcing a criminal to face his wrongdoings and meet whatever fate he must deal with."

Irelia was frowning, rather confused about where Riven was going to with it.

So Riven continued, "That night, the arrow that caused the explosion…" She saw Irelia's eyes widen a bit, not in surprise but in expectation, "I know who shot it."

She took a deep breath before adding the end of that sentence.

"And he's still alive."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello! Sorry for the tardiness, but life got HARD.

Get ready for the next chapter bc THIS is the chapter in which I introduce the main CONFLICT for this fic.

As in, this is where it starts to get good.

Anyway, enjoy!


	14. Things Which Have Never Yet Been Done

_And he's still alive._

The statement echoed inside her head, bouncing from one of her skull's walls to the other, freezing her in place, her wide blue eyes on Riven's red ones yet unfocused, as if she was not seeing the other woman at all.

She had never thought about it: _where _the arrow came from, _who _did it and _why, _and whether this person was still alive up to this day or not.

She had never really thought about it, because it had been easier to just blame it all on Riven: hold a grudge, then bury the hatchet by quietly —and slowly —forgiving her without even letting her know so, claiming that the woman was as much a victim of her circumstances as she had been.

But she had never really put too much thought into the circumstances beyond what was basic and required.

The silence stretched as Riven allowed Irelia to process the information. Slowly, Irelia walked again to her sofa, turning it to fully face Riven before taking a seat, her elbows on her knees, her hands on her face.

She was still _thinking._

"I need you to rewind a bit and give me a detailed explanation."

Riven stared at Irelia, who wasn't looking at her, a frown on her features, half of her face hidden behind her hands.

She steeled herself and began. "What do you know about the Crimson Elite? And I mean _all _you know about it."

_It. _Not _us._

She didn't really feel a part of it anymore.

It was liberating.

Strange, too.

Irelia's eyes moved towards her, the rest of the Captain ever so still. "That you were their leader and that they were the Noxians I fought during the second Noxian invasion."

Riven nodded her head. "Very well. Not much, then." She mirrored Irelia's position, "The Crimson Elite was composed of five people, me included amongst them."

"I only remember three other people with you that night."

Riven nodded, noticing just how quickly Irelia was following her. "The fourth being me, the fifth member not present on the battlefield. I don't know if you remember what they wielded—"

"You, a broadsword." She cut her off, fingers rising as she counted. "A woman with a whip—"

"Aryana." Riven completed the information with the name, sadness on her features.

"A man with a trident—"

"Lucas."

"And another woman…" Irelia frowned, "Unarmed?"

"A pyromancer." She grimaced, "The rain sentenced her to death, that night. Leah."

Irelia nodded her head. "I see. Okay, that's all I know."

She was all business in a way Riven hadn't witnessed before.

"Right. Well," She prepared herself to say it, "The fifth member's name is Cyrus. He's an archer."

She stared at Irelia, who merely stared back, and wondered whether she was analyzing her words, the fact that she had used present tense, the weight of stating that he was an _archer._

Ignoring her own thoughts, Riven continued. "The Crimson Elite had been commanded to try and get into Ionia through a sort of back door—"

"The sewers." It was Irelia's turn to complete Riven's sentences, the woman patiently waiting for her to finish her recounting of the events, but at the same time eager to get to the point.

Riven nodded her head. "We were meant to get into Ionia through the sewers, escorting a wagon that contained amphorae, but what was in the amphorae remained a mystery." Riven explained. "No one told me."

"Whatever it was, it was explosive."

"That's all we know." Riven said, "We called this wagon the _Zaunite Unit, _because it was all the product of a Zaunite scientist."

Irelia's frown deepened. "Name?" She asked, leaning forwards, realizing that, perhaps, she needed to add a bit more of context, "Do you remember—"

"Singed." Riven replied. "Tall man, rather lanky, bald, half of his face covered, deep and monotone voice, one eye brown and the other one green, even the white of it is green."

Irelia nodded her head, silently noting she was talking to someone who was her opposite, yet her equal in so many things.

She didn't need to explain anything to her.

She took a mental note of the fact that this man had a _green _eye, too.

"Singed was the man who created whatever we were escorting," Riven explained. "And as soon as he saw Cyrus, he commanded him to stay back as our escorting group's reinforcements: he'd shoot from far enough that he'd be out of the battlefield, but he'd be able to aid somehow."

"An outsider commanded the Crimson Elite to do as he pleased?" Irelia questioned, not liking it one bit. "And your man Cyrus did as he said?"

Riven nodded, "I told him to."

Irelia hummed, but remained quiet.

So Riven continued. "The arrow that finished it all that night…" She trailed off, sighing. "It came from our side: I saw it. Maybe I couldn't see Cyrus shooting it, but I have no doubt about it."

"He shot a flaming arrow that, _somehow, _managed _not _to be quelled under the rain." Irelia mused out loud.

And Riven realized it was the first time she ever even _noticed _that.

She had never thought about it.

"Yeah, he did."

"And if he shot a _flaming _arrow, it means he _knew _what was in that wagon and how it would _explode._" Irelia reasoned.

And Riven felt devastated.

Truth be told, she had always expected to, maybe, after a lot of investigating, find out that Cyrus was alive, yes, but _innocent._

Irelia had just debunked such hopes with only two sentences, two thoughts that had apparently come to her in a second.

In just a second, she had already discovered more than her in…

...Well, in a lifetime.

Riven felt devastated _and _stupid.

But she had grown used to feeling like that a long time ago.

"Yes." She finally said.

Irelia was still frowning, her eyes lost as she thought about it all.

"So the explosion was on purpose and Cyrus is the main suspect, along with a Zaunite scientist named Singed."

Riven nodded. "Yes."

Irelia looked at Riven, then, her eyes cold as the Freljord, "Where is he."

She wasn't asking.

Riven was pained to say, "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Riven shook her head.

So Irelia laid back on her sofa.

Silence stretched.

This time, it was tense.

Very tense.

Riven did not like it at all.

"Okay," Irelia finally said, her eyes calmer as she stood up.

Riven followed her moving frame with her eyes. "Okay?"

Irelia nodded, her back to Riven as she reached her desk. "Okay."

Riven stood up and moved towards her, "But aren't we going to do something—"

"_Do something about it?" _Irelia finished for her, turning to look at her.

Riven froze at the death glare Irelia sported.

"What will we do about it, Riven?" Irelia asked, the friendliness gone, an aggressive tone she had never heard the Captain use being present in her voice. "What will we do about a _possible _criminal who's location we do not know anything about?" She was losing her mind, "What will we do about your little friend _Cyrus, _if we don't know _anything about where he is?!"_

Riven remained quiet for a second, closing her eyes.

It was hard to get defensive with Irelia, specially after knowing her.

But it was hard not to feel a certain way at how she had risen her voice.

"Please, don't talk to me like that."

Irelia stared at Riven for a second, somewhat thrown for a loop at the tone Riven had used, so quiet and…

And _pleading._

She didn't want to start a fight with Irelia, for whatever reason that was.

So Irelia took a deep breath and, for the first time in one of her disagreements with Riven, obliged.

She brought down her fury with the slow inhaling and the long exhales. "I just don't think there's something we can do, considering we don't know anything about his whereabouts."

It was as close to a _sorry _that Riven would ever get from her.

She accepted it as it was.

And Riven knew that what Irelia said wasn't exactly right: there _was _something they could do, even if it _complicated _things a bit.

Even if it meant making some sacrifices.

"Have you always known?" The question brought Riven out of her trance, her red eyes locked on the blue ones in front of her. "About him being alive. Have you always known?"

Riven frowned, shaking her head no. "I don't know why but I've always considered him to be dead, too."

"Then how did you find out he wasn't?"

"Darius told me, during the last battle of Ionia."

Irelia's eyes widened a bit. "Darius? The Hand of Noxus?"

Riven nodded, a grimace on her face. "It feels so weird, to have him _actually _be the Hand."

"Why?"

"He used to be my apprentice."

"Oh. Yeah, I can see why it would be weird."

"He's the new me."

Irelia shook her head. "You've got to stop pretending there's still anything Noxian in you. Whatever that Riven was, she's dead and long gone."

And she knew Irelia was right, and she knew it wasn't the point, it wasn't what they had to talk about, the topic in question.

But she couldn't leave it alone.

"How do you know that?"

It was wild, to see Irelia go from pure rage to the hint of a smirk, a raised brow as she said, "Because I've gotten to know you and the woman who was on that battlefield is clearly dead."

Riven stared at her for a second.

She liked hearing the other woman prove that she knew her better than before, time after time.

Riven also knew that the teenager Irelia had once been died in that battlefield, too.

After all, that version of her could have never grown as close to a Noxian as she was.

She decided not to mention it for a while, though.

A beat.

"But why would Darius tell you that?"

Riven looked at her with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Irelia took a seat on her desk's chair, a hand on her chin with a frown on her face. "Considering your status as a self-imposed Exiled, you're a traitor to Noxus. Telling you something that _might _make you go after a Noxian is considered treason, therefore Darius basically committed treason." She looked at Riven, "Why would he do that?"

Riven moved to the side of Irelia's desk and took a seat on it, moving the papers away from her and frowning deeply. "I don't know, really. I guess he did it for old times' sake."

"Because he was your apprentice?" Irelia scoffed. "Riven, _you _of all people should know that's not enough to make a Noxian betray Noxus. His loyalty remains with _Noxus, _not with _you."_

"I don't know," She replied, her eyes on the floor, "My squadron didn't hold as much loyalty to Noxus as they held to me."

"If you had tried to protect me from them, that night." Irelia started, red eyes darting to her, "What would they have done?"

Riven frowned, "Well—"

"Would they have backed you up?"

"No."

"What would they have done, then?"

"They would have questioned it." Riven said, then her frown deepened as she said, "And they wouldn't have joined me, unless they found a good reason why I would be fighting with you… And it would have to be a _very _good reason."

"And what would be the alternative to that?"

"What do you mean—"

"What would they have done, had they not joined you?" Irelia quickly replied, leaning forwards on her chair.

And Riven sighed. "They would have executed me."

So Irelia nodded her head. "I see." She said, leaning back again. "So there's literally no way to explain Darius' motives."

Riven was frowning when she said, "Not really."

And silence reigned over them again.

Irelia just contemplating the situation.

Riven, confused in a way she had never been before.

_Why would Darius betray Noxus?_

There was only one way to find out.

_Ask Darius his motives._

And only way to ask him.

But was she willing to make _that _sacrifice?

"Irelia," Riven said, turning to face the Captain fully, a focused expression on her face. "If you had the chance to do something about that night, what would you do?"

Irelia shook her head, like what she was asking was stupid. "I would prevent it—"

"I'm not asking you that and you know it," Riven cut her off, a certain urgency to her tone. "_Today, _if you could do something _today, _what would you do?"

Irelia was getting heated again, "Riven—"

"Would you do something or leave it be?" She cut her off again, desperate for an answer instead of a dodge.

Irelia breathed deep, "I don't know."

"_Irelia—"_

"_I don't know, _Riven!" She lashed out as she stood up, not being able to handle the pressure, "I don't know!" She sat down again, "I don't know," She repeated, calming down, taking a minute to think. "But I wouldn't leave it alone. I don't think I'd be able to leave it be, if I could do something about it."

Riven nodded her head, "Do you think it would bring a certain peace of mind to Ionia?" She asked, weighing something in her head. "Having Cyrus dead, I mean. Would it help with the Order of Shadows and all that?"

Irelia shook her head. "Revenge on Noxus is just a stupid excuse to justify their actions." A beat. Then, "But it would bring peace of mind to _me."_

"To you?"

"You weren't the only one who lost friends that night, you know?" Irelia said, "And you already know you're not the only one who sees them."

Ghosts.

Riven nodded.

"Okay," She said, slowly making her way to her door, hearing Irelia get up.

"Where are you going?"

Riven reached the door. "To my bedroom." She got out of the room, "Goodnight."

She had a lot of thinking to do.

And she'd rather not have Irelia knowing about it until she had reached a conclusion.

Even if, deep inside, she knew such a conclusion had already been reached.

* * *

Irelia felt _weird._

Well, not on her own, though.

She felt weird about _Riven._

It didn't take her too long to notice the Noxian was not putting any effort into their training.

None, not even a bit, not at all.

She would dodge, she would parry, but she wouldn't fight back, her eyes on her own but unfocused, her steps slow and her timing just a hair's breadth wrong.

She was _off, _not even trying to actually _be there _mentally, in the training with her.

"Is everything okay?" She had tried asking, but whenever she did, Riven would just—

"Yeah, yeah," She said, nodding her head vigorously, "I'm fine."

And she really _was _fine, but…

But she wasn't there, in a way.

No green eyes, nothing of the sorts. It was still Riven.

Her mind was on another plane, though.

She was distracted.

And the distraction seemed to last for days, for their sparring sessions remained suboptimal for a time lapse.

And Irelia had tried _everything_.

She had tried being _rougher, _she had tried being more _strict, _she had tried being _gentler _and letting the woman have more _freedom, _even offering her to train with the rest instead of with her, though she silently hoped she would not accept the offer.

She actually sighed with relief when Riven shook her head and refused.

_But then what's your problem?_

What Irelia failed to understand was the connection between Riven's spacing out and their last private conversation.

Riven was thinking about it.

Because she knew what she could do.

She could waltz into Noxus and demand answers. As far as they knew, she was _dead, _not a traitor.

But then again, _as far as they knew, she was dead. _Showing up in Noxus meant giving up her diplomatic immunity, product of their belief that she had not made it out alive.

And that rose up another question: had Darius told them she still _lived?_

It all made her feel bad, to say the least.

Truth was, she had never even considered going back to Noxus. She would have rather died —or, even worse for her, live with her demons —than go back to Noxus, prove she was alive, face whatever consequences that would bring.

She would do anything _but _that, but…

She sighed.

_But it would bring Irelia peace of mind._

And hadn't she said, some time ago, that peace of mind was the most important thing in life?

Hadn't she said she had come to Ionia only to find her _own?_

And maybe, to find her peace of mind, she had to help Irelia find her own, first.

_Means to an end, and all that._

Truth be told, she knew she had made up her mind the moment Irelia had answered her final question, that night in her office.

She just needed to come to terms with it.

She needed to prepare to face it: first inside her head, then in her reality.

Because she knew that once she made her decision, it was _final, _and it was _happening._

So she whispered it, one morning, into the silence in her room, "I'm going back to Noxus."

And she kept repeating it like a mantra inside her head as she went through her morning routine.

Get out of bed, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Wash her face, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Get dressed, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Walk out of her room and towards the training camps, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Find Irelia, all alone, already waiting for her, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Grab her hand and silently guide her to her office, ignoring the woman's questions, _I'm going back to Noxus._

Politely ask her to sit down on her chair, then doing the same on the other side of the desk, "There's a way to find Cyrus."

Irelia stared at her. "Okay," She said, warily, "Tell me."

And Riven was bold enough to be serious when she said, "We must go to Noxus and ask for his head."

Silence.

Long silence.

Then Irelia lost her composure and _bursted out laughing._

Riven couldn't believe it, but there were literal _tears _on her face.

So she just stared at her, a bit confused until she just couldn't take it anymore and, "What are you laughing about?"

She kept laughing for a moment, then tried to reign in on it enough to let out a, "Riven, come on, _go to Noxus?"_

Riven remained serious.

It was only then that Irelia noticed she was _dead _serious.

"Oh, you really meant it?"

Riven nodded her head.

Irelia _stopped, _then. "Oh. Well," She wiped a tear off her face, "We can't really do that, you know that, right?"

Riven nodded, "But we can. You see, they believe I'm _dead." _She shifted on her seat, "If I were to go back to Noxus right now, I'd be the Hand of Noxus. As my personal guest, you'd have diplomatic immunity, at least until Darkwill sees you."

Irelia frowned. How long had it been, since Riven last kept up with Noxian news?

Not that she was that well versed on it either, of course, considering she had been too busy with Ionian news already, but how much of a chance was there that something vital enough had changed and this was all a _very _bad idea?

"And besides," Riven started again, "I've heard Noxus has pulled their warbands back to the empire, so it means they're not looking for trouble yet, even if it's a weird move for Darkwill to pull." She shrugged, "I'm sure we'll be fine—"

"We don't have to do that." Irelia cut her off, shaking her head.

"Why not?"

"Because it's not necessary."

"Not necessary?"

There had been a certain alarm to her tone, so Irelia regarded her warily.

Riven wasn't exactly pissed off, but there was an electricity to her. She sighed at first, hoping not to lose her wits, before finally saying, "I don't know if you've noticed, but you've given me too much to think about." She huffed a laugh, "I haven't even been paying attention to you all week and that's all I usually do."

And she allowed that _electricity _to help her disregard what she had just given the Ionian so freely.

"Irelia, we _must _go." She shook her head, "It's not a matter we can simply let be. We must go to Noxus and demand they give us this war criminal's head or, at least, his whereabouts."

She stared at Riven for a hard second.

The Noxian had stood up at some point without even noticing, her hands on the wooden desk, her eyes intently locked on Irelia's.

She seemed to—

"Do you really want to do this, Riven?" Irelia asked her, voicing her thoughts. "To go back to Noxus?"

Riven shook her head, "It's not about wanting it, but in any case, I don't care about going back to Noxus: it means nothing to me." She looked down to her hands, "I will not like it and I will probably hate myself _every _second of the way there, of our stay there, of our way back home, but I think it's necessary. I must go," She looked at Irelia and corrected herself, "_We _must go. You and I," She waved a finger between them, "We're a team, you and I." She said, frowning as if she were trying the words out, then nodding her head, "Yes." She agreed with her own statement, "And as a team, it means I've got to help you reach that peace of mind. It's the least I can do."

Irelia just then realized that this whole mess was about letting her sleep at night.

Only that.

Irelia's brows rose, "Riven, we really don't have to—"

"Except we do," Riven cut her off gently, her eyes locked on Irelia's, "Irelia, I…" She sighed, finally sitting down again.

Where should she start?

"I'm a mess."

Hadn't she said that, many moons ago?

She would have laughed.

"I'm a mess and that's the only thing I'm really certain about." Riven reasoned, "My mind is…"

Was she willing to tell Irelia _something _about her mind?

It was dangerous territory.

She closed her eyes.

"My mind is a maze." She said, daring for once. "I walk around a labyrinth, every day, without ever knowing how to navigate it. Certainties are the only help I ever get, so I gather as many certainties as I can and I fight with all my might to stick to them." She opened her eyes, "When I arrived in Ionia, I got a few of them and I stuck with them: Orlon being a mage and my only friend, Sao being by my side and Ban being against me, Zeylos being an absolute bastard…" She smirked, "You being a mystery."

She sighed, "At first, you were _infuriating, _Irelia." She said, leaning back on her chair and letting her eyes go up to the ceiling, "While the things I know as true help me navigate my maze and not get lost in the darkness, you only changed the map." She allowed her head to fall to a side so that she could look at Irelia, "Don't take it the wrong way, you kept the game interesting, but it was definitely infuriating, to have the ground taken away from under my feet."

She leaned forwards, placing her forearms on the desk, eyes on her hands. "But then I got to know you and suddenly you didn't change the maps anymore." She looked at Irelia, "It's weird, because I think I've never felt this happen before, but it was almost as if you were just…" She shrugged, "I don't know, walking around the maze with me and…" She groaned, feeling _stupid _by mentioning it, "And suddenly I didn't need certainties nor to fear getting lost."

She sighed, "So that's why this means a lot to me, you know?" She shook her head, "You might say you don't need it, but I don't care whether you need it or not. I _want _to give this to you: A chance to put these souls that wander around our heads to sleep, finally rest in peace, their butcher brought to justice."

And Irelia froze when she saw Riven get up from her chair, reach out to her and grab her by her hands, before sitting back, still holding them tightly.

"If not for you, if not for _us, _then for them." There was a brave determination in her eyes, unlike anything that had ever shone in there, "For them to finally find their _own _peace in their afterlife. For us to finally go on about our lives in this one with a little bit of it, too. For him to get what he deserves, whatever that is."

Irelia looked at her, analyzed her feline features for a moment.

She turned their hands around and grabbed Riven's. "Don't think I don't know this is about you searching for redemption, Riven."

It caught the Noxian off guard.

"Ever since arriving here, I've known your motives." She shook her head. "You want me to forgive you for that night. What you don't understand, dear, is that I've already done that," She emphasized her words by squeezing the Noxian's bandaged hands, "I've let go of it, it's in the past, buried and done with. You're a new person, I'm a new person, we can be new together. We don't have to delve in it. Judging by that time you came here with Diana, you wanted me to choose your fate: either bring you justice or grant you redemption and I've already _chosen, _Riven," She smiled, "I've chosen your redemption." She shook her head, "We don't have to chase the ghosts, even if they chase us every night."

She sighed, her eyes landing on Riven's hands, "Who knows, maybe none of this actually matters and they will still find us, every time we walk into the shadows." She eyed Riven, "Your maze is _really _dark and we _really _should turn on some lights," She commented, earning a chuckle from the Noxian. "But I think it's not fair for you, the fact that you do all of this for me and I've done nothing but confuse you ever since you arrived." She frowned, "And that you're _willing _to do _so much _for me and I'm here just… doing nothing."

"I wouldn't say—"

A pointed look was enough to make Riven shut up.

"What I'm trying to say here is that I think that you _need _to go back to Noxus. Not because of Cyrus, but because of Darius. I think there's a few loose threads that you need to tie." She smirked, "This all comes back to _closure _as our main topic."

Then Irelia sighed, "So I know, _I know _I will regret this, but I will oblige." She stood up and slowly guided Riven to the door. "Go back to your room and sleep, now. I've got matters to attend to."

Riven was a bit confused. "I don't really get it…"

Irelia looked at her with a raised brow. "Besides the probably _thousands _of forms I will have to fill in about this little trip, it will take _a lot _of effort to find _one _sailor willing to take us to _Noxus, _of all places, so my advice is that you get all the rest you need _now_, because you will be helping me with the paperwork and _absolutely every need _this escapade demands, starting tomorrow."

She gently pushed Riven outside and, as she closed the door, she said, "Sleep! It's an order."

And then the door closed on her face.

Riven was frozen and she blinked one, two, three times before it finally registered on her brain.

She didn't know how to feel, whether to smile or cry.

But it was alright.

After all, her biggest question had been answered, her biggest fear up and gone.

_She chose redemption._

* * *

Author's note:

Well, this one was faster, wasn't it?

Remember folks, Comments make the writer happy and a happy writer writes at the speed of light!

xoxo gossip girl


	15. Scarred By Many Past Frustrations

She woke up to a few gentle slaps on her face and she already felt like going back to sleep.

"Come on, Riven," She heard _Irelia's voice? _Telling her, "You can sleep when you're dead. As far as I know. you're not dead yet."

Riven opened her eyes, squinting at how much light there was in her room, as Irelia opened the curtains. "I swear I _just _managed to fall asleep."

"Well, _I didn't even sleep," _Irelia answered with a raised brow, "So consider yourself lucky to have had at least five minutes." She clapped her hands together, painfully loudly. "Up!" She said, moving towards the bed and grabbing the covers—

Riven quickly incorporated, hugging the blankets to her chest, "_I'm naked!" _She squealed out as a quick explanation.

Irelia froze.

She looked at Riven.

There was a crimson hue to her cheeks, despite the composure the Ionian Captain seemed to always sport.

"You sleep _naked?"_

Riven could _feel _her own face heating up as she nodded her head and let out a choked, "Yes."

Irelia let go of the covers. "Okay." She said, standing up tall again. "Well, I'll," She cleared her throat, "I'll wait outside." She moved towards the door, "Hurry up!" She added, before leaving the room and closing the door.

And Riven let out a breath she had been holding, in fear of being laid bare in front of her _Captain._

* * *

Irelia waited outside, eyes wide as she stared at the ground.

_Sleep naked, what the Hell is wrong with her?_

She wanted the Earth to open up below her feet and swallow her whole.

_Wake her up like that, what the Hell is wrong with you?_

To say she was nervous was an understatement: she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but it was due to all the wrong reasons, too.

_Going to Noxus? What the Hell was I thinking?_

She wondered if she would stop asking herself questions regarding her stupid choices. She doubted it.

Irelia regretted it, already, well aware that it was a bad decision, but—

She sighed.

But she had already said _yes._

And the excitement in Riven's eyes, when she accepted…

Could she back down, now?

_Not really._

_But where there had been excitement, there has also been _fear.

Pure, unadulterated fear.

_And diplomatic immunity? Really?_

Was Riven stupid enough to believe they would actually grant her that?

_Apparently, yes._

She sighed once more.

She was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

And as she thought about it, Irelia's hard place almost vanished from behind her as Riven opened the door, forcing her to quickly move away.

Riven grimaced when she saw Irelia looking at her with wide eyes, "I'm sorry," She was quick to apologize, "I wasn't expecting you to be laying against it." She offered, before coming out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"It's alright," Irelia mumbled, her eyes roaming the Noxian.

She was wearing that Targonian armor…

...And she had her sword wielded to her side.

She tried her best _not _to glare at it.

"I must admit it's kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is happening," Riven said, her hand rubbing at some spot on the back of her neck, an uncomfortable smirk on her lips, "For a moment, when you said _I needed _to go to Noxus, I thought you meant that I would go alone."

Irelia's eyes widened a bit, "Oh."

And the first place her mind went was, _I didn't know she wanted to go alone._

It hurt to think it, but she could live with it.

Truth be told, it would be far easier for her to stay.

So she gritted her teeth and obliged.

"Okay, then." Irelia said, nodding her head. "I will get the ship for the trip, you should warn both Sato Captains of your departure." She turned and left, calling over her shoulder, "I'll come and find you once it's all sorted."

And Riven watched her go for a second, a bit confused.

Was she not leaving alone? Was she going to travel with her?

She shook her head and shrugged it off, before leaving for the training camps.

She would act nonchalant about being alone if she had to.

* * *

_Going with her, what the _Hell _were you thinking?!_

Irelia's head was a _mess, _to say the least.

_She's a _Noxian. _Of course she wants to go alone._

She stopped walking, because her head produced the thought; _A Noxian returning to Noxus, _alone.

Unsupervised.

She felt dread inside her heart.

Was Riven trying to leave Ionia?

Was she trying to go back to Noxus for something else than this stupid little _suicide mission _of hers?

_Would she betray me?_

_Me, _not _Ionia, _because Irelia could subconsciously admit to herself —only amidst the heart-stopping fear that she felt at the moment —that she didn't care about what Riven did regarding _Ionia _as much as she cared about what she did regarding _her._

"Don't be fucking stupid," She had to force herself to say between gritted teeth because hadn't she said that she knew this Riven? That there was nothing Noxian in her, anymore? That she was better?

But when the fears and insecurities started to crawl their way towards her, it proved hard to keep it all in check.

And then their deadly voice started and _oh, _how they whispered in her brain.

_Maybe you had been wrong to trust._

_Maybe she hadn't changed at all._

_Maybe it was all a ruse._

_Maybe you are betraying Ionia by having faith in a Noxian._

And she hated, she really despised how those voices got to her every time, being able to always get through.

She shut her eyes and gritted her teeth, "I'm not wrong in trusting her," She growled at herself, knowing it would have to be her newfound religion, to trust blindly in a former enemy, if she wanted to defeat the voices inside her brain.

_I'm not wrong in trusting her._

_But you are._

_I'm not wrong in trusting her._

_But you are._

_I'm not wrong in trusting her._

But the voice would never shut up until she was either proved right or proved wrong.

It would never shut up.

So she growled back at it and stomped back to her office, her mind already made that she would help Riven get there, not matter what.

After all, she had already written all of the papers and permits she would need to leave Ionia.

She had even found the sailor to take her there, smuggling her in.

All she needed was to wait until twilight and Riven would be gone.

_Maybe not to come back._

She growled harder and drove her point of wanting silence home by slamming her fist against the wall.

* * *

"I can't have heard you correctly. You're going _where?"_

"To Noxus."

Orlon blinked slowly.

"Okay, well… What do you want for your funeral, then?"

The Noxian shoved him playfully, "Piss off!" She said, trying to lighten the mood but feeling every bit as nervous as she knew she should be.

Orlon wasn't really laughing, though.

Riven had walked towards the training camps, looking deadlier than ever in her ebony Targonian armor and when he had asked her what she was doing, all she had said was _I'm going back to Noxus._

What else had she expected? A friendly farewell?

The boy was _worried._

"Riven," He held her, both of his hands on her shoulders, "You will _die _there."

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Riven replied.

Deep inside, though, she was positive she was committing suicide.

She regretted her decision of sacrificing her quiet exile for...what? For the chance of bringing a traitor to justice?

She sighed through her nose. She knew it wasn't like that, because nothing is ever that simple.

She knew she was sacrificing her quiet exile for _Irelia _and what she felt she owed the woman.

She felt it was the least she could do for her.

She _wanted _to do it for her.

_And if she said yes to me traveling…_

Truth be told, she could face the fear, the pain and suffering, but originally she had imagined she would face it with _Irelia._

She hadn't thought she'd really be going alone and, now that she knew that was the case…

She didn't know if she could handle it.

Truth be told, she was terrified of making this journey _alone._

She was _Riven; _she _knew _she could be on her own, even if being on her own meant being in the company of her own struggles and demons.

But one thing was to be on her own anywhere else in Runeterra. Another completely different thing is to be on her own in _Noxus, _of all places.

It would be too much for her already broken mind.

_But I've made a compromise._

And she was not to break those.

"Someone's looking fancy!" She turned at the sound of Sao's voice, watching as the Captain arrived with her brother in line after her. "Did Irelia kick your ass hard enough that you decided to start bringing armor to the sparring session?"

And despite her fears, Riven chuckled, "You could definitely say that, but no. I'm going on a journey."

"Oh, a journey?" Sao asked, "Where to?"

Riven grimaced when she said, "Noxus."

Both Sato siblings looked at her with a dead stare.

"Noxus?" Ban asked.

Riven nodded her head.

"_The _Noxus? Your birthplace, Noxus?"

She nodded her head again, this time looking at Sao.

"Does Irelia know about this?"

"She's actually filling in the paperwork that will allow me to go." She looked at the tall man.

"And you're going on your own?"

Her eyes darted again to the other sibling, "I think so."

"And why in all of Runeterra did you suddenly decide that you wanted to go back to Noxus?"

Riven closed her eyes, doing her best not to groan at the question. "I didn't just _suddenly decide_ to go back to Noxus." She looked at Sao, "It's very complicated and, if I'm honest, I don't know how much of this I can disclose with you, so ask Irelia about it."

She hadn't meant to sound so defensive, but there was no backing off, now.

Sao and Ban looked at each other, before looking at her again.

Ban was _glaring._

Sao, on the other hand, looked _worried._

Riven smiled, "I'll be fine, trust me."

An she knew Ban was probably thinking something along the lines of _I bet you will._

But she didn't care. She was focused on making _Sao _feel better, not her jackass of a brother.

"Well, it will suck, not having you around." Sao said, placing her hand on Riven's shoulder. "We'll inform the troop. Try to remain safe and sound during this journey and whatever it is that takes you to Noxus, I hope it brings you back from there, too."

And she _hated, _she absolutely _despised _how Sao managed to touch her heartstrings. "Thank you, Sao. It means a lot."

"_Riven!"_

They all turned to look at Irelia, who was calling the Noxian, motioning for her to come closer, before turning to leave, adding a loud, "_My office!" _As she left.

"Well, that's definitely the cue for me to leave." Riven nodded her head in acknowledge of the Captains and, when she turned to say her goodbyes to Orlon, she was crushed in a hug by the Demacian Boy.

"Be safe."

Riven hugged him back, patting him a bit. "I'll try."

She started to walk away, sighing as she did so—

She staggered forwards as someone crashed into her from behind, slender arms snaking around waist.

"For the record, I thought about hugging you before Orlon did, but I've got an image to keep." Sao's words were muffled as she pressed herself against Riven's back, the whole ordeal making the Noxian laugh heartily, before turning around in her embrace and hugging her back.

"All I've heard is that you're too proud to do it in public."

"Shut up, jerk." She said, and they both laughed at that.

"Be honest with me," Riven started, "How do you _feel _about this trip of mine?"

And she didn't like how Sao's look of worry deepened a bit, for she knew she was talking about her uncanny hunches which were never wrong. "You will receive surprise after surprise, that I'm sure of."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Not all surprises are good."

"And what about threats to my life?" Riven questioned.

And Sao wore the expression of someone who's trying to recognize someone else who's standing too far away. "I don't know whether what I feel is what I want to feel or my ability, Riven." She shook her head. "I just hope that, knowing you and your capabilities, you will be fine."

And she guessed that should be enough to work on. "Alright," Riven said, before squeezing Sao one final time. "I will miss you."

"I will miss you terribly, too." Sao squeezed her back. "Now, go." She released her, "Before Irelia comes for both our heads."

Riven laughed and, looking back at Sao one last time, made her way to her Captain's office, leaving the blonde behind, only one wish in her mind.

_I hope it's actually my ability telling me that you'll be back and not how badly I want it, Riven._

_I hope it's my fears telling me you will suffer and not my ability's doing, too._

_I really do._

* * *

Riven knocked on Irelia's door before walking in, having learned her lesson from last time.

At the sound of Irelia's firm voice saying, "Come in," She pushed the door and entered, taking a seat in front of Irelia, her desk in between them.

"Everything has been settled." Irelia informed her, still in that all-business attitude from before. "You're to depart Ionia at dusk. The ship is bound to reach Noxus in…" She calculated the time in her head, a frown on her face as she did so, "A day, two tops, but I doubt it will take too long." Her eyes scanned the papers in front of her. "The ship will wait only twenty four hours for you to sort out anything that you need to and then it will depart, _with or without you._"

Her eyes had been on Riven's when she had said that.

She was quietly pointing at the window, the chink in the armor's plan.

Riven _could stay _if she wanted to.

Riven could _never _come back to Ionia.

"I hope you understand it's just a security measure," Irelia said, clearing her throat, "We can't command an Ionian to remain in enemy lands if he doesn't want to. the fact that this sailor is already willing to put his tripulation, his ship and his own life on the line for this trip—"

"I wouldn't ask for anything but what they're willing to offer, my Captain." Riven interrupted, making it clear that she didn't intend to force anyone to do anything they weren't willing to do. "To be honest, I think it's only fair that they can leave whenever they see fit. The fact that they're willing to wait for me at least a whole day is already more than I could have had imagined."

Irelia nodded her head, "Okay, good." She stacked all the papers," I'll take it you already said your goodbyes to everyone?"

Riven nodded, "I did. I even hugged the cook," She raised her brows at Irelia, who looked at her with a rather comical expression, "I told her I'll miss the weekly lamb stew. I always look forward to that one."

And _there it was, _the faint ghost of a smirk that Riven had grown used to looking for. "I'm sure she'll make some for you to take with you, if you ask nicely."

"Oh, I doubt it. You see, I'm only _Riven…_" She drifted off, waving her hand in the air as if she were looking for a word, "That's it. Only Riven."

And the small nudge to an old conversation forced Irelia to look away, a smile definitely plastered on her lips.

"But _you, _though. You're _Captain Irelia Lito,_ I'm sure she _would _make it for you."

Irelia was smiling when she looked at her again only to say, "All of this mess, just to make me ask her for your food?"

Riven frowned, deep in thought, before nodding vigorously. "Pretty much."

And it earned her an actual _laugh _from Irelia.

And it was right then, with _that _laugh, that she decided she could totally walk into Noxus and demand whatever the Hell Irelia wanted her to ask for.

_It can't be that hard._

_Not as hard as making her laugh, at least._

And when silence settled, Riven asked, "If I'm bound to leave at dusk, does it mean I have the rest of the day to myself?"

Irelia nodded her head. "Yes."

"May I spend it here?"

Irelia raised a brow, "Here?" Upon seeing Riven nod, she asked, "Why here, of all Ionia?"

Riven shrugged, "I already bid Orlon and Sao farewell, might as well spend what remains with you."

"Oh," Irelia said before nodding her head, "Sure, you can stay here, if you wish."

"Good," Riven smiled, before getting up and slowly walking around the room, allowing herself to inspect it for the first time.

Irelia watched as Riven moved to the right side of the room, her hand lazily feeling each of the books on her bookshelves, eyes scanning their names with an uncanny yet natural ease: as if Riven were unaware that she was with someone else.

She watched as Riven slowly walked around, her eyes glued to the books, then the paintings, then the eternal fire on her fireplace, as the Noxian made her way to the couch that was —apparently, for she was the only person to use it so much —hers and took a seat on it, a lazy posture as she allowed her legs to dangle from one armrest, her head dangling off the other one.

A beat. Then,

"Are you still curious about my family name?"

Irelia thought about it for a second, before getting up and slowly walking to her own sofa. "A little bit, yes."

As she took as seat, she watched Riven as the Noxian closed her eyes and let out a sigh through her nose.

"In Noxus, family names can make or break you." She started with ease, her voice softer than usual, lower, more relaxed. "A family can hold prestige and such prestige can be inherited; a gateway to respect in the land of the strong but, since this is true, the opposite is, too; a family can hold a shameful name that can hurt your reputation rather hard and make earning recognition an impossible task."

She didn't look at Irelia as she continued. "Since this is a thing that happens in Noxus, you get the chance of renouncing your family, even your first name. You may even create a new family name, a new name to hold prestige and to be given to future generations, but you may never come back to your old names if you do give up on them."

She shifted a bit on her seat, adjusting her back on the soft cushions. "We are all given our family names when we're born, no matter whether our parents are in our lives or not." She sighed, "My parents weren't in mine: My dad had died in some war and my mom had died giving birth to me, so I was an orphan with a name that meant absolutely nothing to me."

"I don't really know who my parents were, but I did know that people gave me shit for them; apparently, they weren't very…" She searched for a word. "Liked. I don't know. All I knew was that my last name didn't demand respect, but begged to be the end of every joke so, when I was offered the chance at being a warrior, I asked for the higher powers to give me a chance to change my name and they did, so I quickly erased it all and chose a name for my own: _Riven, _because it means _violently divided, _and I always knew that would define me, in a way." She frowned, "Now that I think about it, though, maybe I just _let it _define me." She shrugged, "Whichever way is, this is my name now. I chose not to have a family name because I didn't think it was right for me to have one; if I don't have a family, why have a family name?"

She shifted again, relaxing onto her seat, "So that's why I'm just _Riven, _no last name included, because, in a way, it's not really needed. I'm _Riven _and everyone knows who exactly _Riven _is, if they've ever met me."

And it was only then that she dared take a look at Irelia.

The Ionian was looking at her, a softness to her gaze that Riven doubted she had ever seen there, before. A hand on her chin, elbow propped on the armrest, the woman looked pensative as she stared, halfway lost into her thoughts, which made Riven question if she had even heard her.

She knew she did when she heard Irelia say, "That much is true: there's definitely not two people like you."

A beat of silence.

"You've never regretted your decision?"

Riven shook her head a bit. "Not really."

"So, you wouldn't get a family name if you could?"

Riven shrugged. "I don't see the reason why."

"Ah, I see."

"What about you?" Riven asked her, then, turning to her side so she could fully look at Irelia. "Would _you _change your name, if you could?"

Irelia thought about it for a minute, a frown on her face as she did so, before shaking her head, "No, not really. I like my name and I like my family, even with my grandparents and parents long gone and my brother a bit distant from me, considering I stole his future."

"You never told me what happened to your parents."

A past scar for a past scar.

A fair exchange.

"Both of my parents died during the first Noxian invasion, when we tried to protect our house from being occupied," Irelia shared with her, a frown of sorrow on her face. "My brother and I are the only Lito family members still alive."

"I'm sorry," Riven said, both women aware she really meant it, before asking, "What about your grandparents? You mentioned them, too."

Irelia sighed as she laid back on her sofa, "They mean a lot to me. Well, my grandmother does. My grandfather was a nice man, but we didn't share much of our lives before he died of age. My grandmother, on the other hand, taught me the Silk Dance."

There was a smile on her face at the memories she was so fond of, one that Riven stared at, in a trance, hearing as she continued talking, "When I was a little kid, she taught me these traditional dances, telling me about their connections to the Spirits of Ionia." She chuckled, "At first, I teased her about it, because I didn't think it was real. That day, though, when I fought off that Noxian Commander and my blades responded to my dancing…" She shook her head. "I should have never doubted her, but I bet she's forgiven my ignorance."

"Is she still alive?"

Irelia shook her head. "She died a peaceful death, which I'm grateful for."

"I'm sorry to hear she's dead, but I'm glad it involved no suffering."

"Me too."

There was a knock on the door, which startled both women.

"Come in," Irelia said, standing up as Riven did the same.

A soldier appeared on the threshold, his eyes going from Riven to Irelia before he spoke, "My Captain, the ship's crew are ready to see you."

"Very well, I'll be there in a minute." Irelia said, nodding her head once and dismissing the soldier, before turning to look at Riven. "I promised the ship's captain I would help him brief his sailors on their task and who they'd be sailing with. Do me the favor of waiting in your room, I'll come and escort you to the ship myself."

Riven nodded her head. "Okay."

And with that, the Captain of the Guard walked out of the room.

* * *

A whole hour passed before someone finally knocked on her door, prompting a quick "Come in," From Riven.

It wasn't Irelia.

It was the same soldier from before.

"My Captain," He said, though it didn't have the same sentiment as when he had said it to Irelia, "The ship is ready for you."

Riven got up from her bed, frowning, "I thought Captain Lito was going to escort me there?"

The soldier shook his head. "There's been a change of plans and I will be the one with such a pleasure."

Riven wanted to snort, because _sure, it's a pleasure to escort the Noxian out of Ionia._

But she said nothing and allowed him to guide her towards their destination.

She silently walked behind him, her hand absentmindedly going to her Lunari charm, still secured on a chain around her neck, gently holding it for a few seconds, before releasing it and toying with it, a thing she had started to do whenever she was nervous.

The ship wasn't _luxurious _per se, but it was a rather nice one, specially if one considered they were going to _smuggle her in,_ not carry her to the docks.

Made of a dark wood and containing white sails, it was as well kept as the Placidium and spacious enough to host a numerous crew with no problem.

She boarded it with her right foot first as she had learned she had to do and, when her eyes fell on the captain—

"_Captain Leith?"_

The man smiled at her, "Good to see you again, sailor!"

She chuckled at his apparently eternal good mood. "How come you're the owner of this ship?"

Leith shrugged, "I have a tiny boat here, a big boat there…" He explained vaguely, "I'm a _hard worker, _ma'am."

"That much I can tell."

"Let me show you your quarters!" He said, motioning for her to follow him. "We've only got two private rooms, the Captain's quarters, which are mine, of course, and a room of the same size and _splendor, _for any special guest who's to come." He explained as they slowly reached a closed door, "So you will have to bear it and share it."

Riven frowned at that last thing he said, opening his mouth to ask but never managing to do so, for Leith explained it himself when he opened the door.

In the room, where only a bed, a chest and a desk with a chair and a mirror were the only things available for the guest who occupied it, she saw Irelia, sitting by the desk, an impatient look on her face as she turned to look at the door.

"Irelia?"

The Captain of the Guard could _feel _her cheeks getting warm.

"I'll leave you two to get settled," Leith said, before disappearing.

Riven entered the room and closed the door. "What are you doing here? Wasn't I supposed to travel alone."

Irelia was looking at absolutely _everything _but Riven. "Well, I," She cleared her throat. "I just—"

Her eyes landed on Riven's.

The Noxian was smiling at her with a knowing look.

Irelia groaned. "I couldn't take it, okay?" She answered, "I couldn't let you go alone. It didn't feel right. I thought maybe you'd need a helping hand."

And she had spoken truthfully, she really had.

She only stopped herself from admitting too much and saying _I would have missed you terribly if you had left alone._

And she tried not to think of how those dark thoughts didn't talk to her when she was with Riven.

But all she had said was true, too.

She wanted the Earth to open up and swallow her, again.

_Doing all of this just to go with her, what the Hell were you—_

She couldn't finish the thought, for a laughing Riven was bringing her up to her feet by her hands and, bold move, dare she say, _hugging her._

"I don't know what I would do without you." She pulled away, a genuine, warm smile on her face. "Thank you, Irelia."

And the honesty with which Riven spoke eased her nerves, even if it only sped up her heart.

She smiled back, "We are a team, aren't we?"

And she could _swear _she had seen Riven's eyes dart to her lips when the woman replied, "That we are."

* * *

Author's note:

This chapter was originally going to be longer but then I was like "I want to update right now" and "I'm not Irelia Lito but this is my fic and I do what I want so if I want to update NOW I update NOW." and here we are.

Enjoy! Suffer through the slowest slow burn ever! Mwahaha!

Mili.


	16. From Rational Control To Instinct

"Okay, folks!" Leith had said out loud, "Course set to Noxus, let's sail, now!"

And just like that, Irelia and Riven, who had come out of their room before the departure, watched how every man on board, as perfectly as clockwork, got to their posts: knots untied and sails released, the ship was then sailing away from Ionia.

They both watched as the Captain looked into the horizon, his hands on the rudder, an exaggeratedly serious look on his face.

"Has he always been this… _quirky?" _Irelia whispered as they both made their way throughout the ship's deck.

Riven chuckled as they slowly moved, "He has his moments. Did you choose him as our Captain because he was the one who brought me here?"

Irelia rolled her eyes. "Not everything revolves around you. I chose him because he was the only one up to the task."

Riven whistled, the sound low, "A true, brave adventurer."

They moved towards the ship's bow and stared ahead at the vastness of the Ionian sea, the sound of men working and chatting freely resonating behind them, a rather joyful tone, so contrasting to the reality they were sailing for.

"I'm glad you're here," Riven said, the statement hanging in the air between them, before she turned her head to look at Irelia, "To be honest with you, I'm terrified of this: of going back to Noxus, of facing it all again." She shook her head. "I don't know if I can take it alone, but, with you?" She smiled at Irelia, "With you by my side I feel like it's not too difficult."

"I couldn't leave you to do it on your own."

"No," Riven said, a smirk on her face, "Because you'd miss my ugly mug too much."

Irelia chuckled, shaking her head.

_Your mug is by no means ugly._

They both froze at that.

Judging by the wild look on Irelia's face, she had not meant to say it out loud.

Riven stared at Irelia—

The Ionian broke the spell by looking away and, "I will check on Leith, see you around."

Riven watched her go, a satisfied smirk on her face.

She made her _nervous._

It was interesting information to have.

* * *

Time was a funny thing for them in a very dark, not-funny-at-all way.

What was normal was for people to feel the day moving by painfully slowly while the night was a quick elipsed sequence, its' actual length hidden behind closed eyes and a deep sleep.

For Riven and Irelia, though, it all happened backwards, with daylight leaving far too soon for them to be comfortable, a night dragging for as long as ten.

A few hours of the threatening nighttime felt like years to them, daylight and the safety it promised lasting only some scarce seconds, all because of the nightmares that plagued their minds when it was dark outside.

So it wasn't uncommon for them to start feeling uneasy when dusk was well gone, nighttime fully settled in.

And they both could feel in the air just how nervous the other was; just by sharing one knowing look they both could see in their feathered jaws and their stern eyes what worried the other.

The subtle indications were hidden from the common eye, only there if you looked for then and you looked hard enough, but some people with a keen eye for detail could see them.

Diana had been able to, at some point in time. She still was.

They hadn't expected Leith to be able to, too.

"I see the way you both frown at the horizon," He commented as he approached them, both still at the front of the ship, watching ahead. "Like there's a kraken awaiting right beneath the ocean's surface."

"I've always found it really unsettling, sailing at night." Irelia was quick to confess, hiding other motives of fear behind a statement that was as true.

"And I've always found wind on my face really annoying." Riven added behind her sentence, her arms crossed in front of her, a blatant lie coming out of her mouth.

And everyone in there knew it perfectly.

Leith shrugged, "We've been sailing for lifetimes, so we could go around this ocean blind. Now, the wind is something I'll let you fight on your own: I wouldn't want to get into an argument with the wind."

Riven chuckled, nodding her head. "Understood." And right after saying that, she stretched, the tiredness of the day finally catching up with her, "I'll be heading to my quarters."

"Our."

She looked at Irelia.

"_Our _quarters."

It was evident on Riven's face that she had completely forgotten about it. "Oh." She nodded her head. "Right."

And, as awkwardly as humanly possible, Riven walked to their quarters.

_With _Irelia trailing after her.

They entered their room and closed the door behind them.

"How do you want to do this?" Irelia asked her, silently releasing herself from the armor plates she usually wore.

Riven's eyes focused hard on Irelia's before the Noxian looked away, suddenly very busy with placing her sword on the room's chest. "What do you mean?"

"The whole sleeping thing. Do _you _want the bed?" She asked her, before a thought hit her and made her freeze, quickly adding a serious, "Please tell me you're not going to sleep naked in here too."

"_Gods, no!" _Riven quickly defended herself with a bewildered look on her face as she quickly glanced at Irelia with a blush on her face, only then noticing how the Captains eyelids seemed heavier than usual, her eyes droopy. "I only sleep like that in the comfort of my own, _private _room."

"Okay, good." Irelia said, finishing ridding herself from her armor, moving to the chest to put it away. "I was just making sure." And, as she finished placing it al away, dressed only in the skin-tight suit that she wore underneath the armor plates, she looked at Riven, still fully armored, sitting on the desk's chair with a frown. "You won't get out of that thing?"

Riven shook her head, "I'll stay like this _and _I'll sleep here on the chair. The bed's yours."

Irelia frowned at her, "Sleeping on your armor is bound to leave your body sore and stiff."

Riven shrugged. "I'm used to it."

Irelia looked at her, hard for a second, before shrugging and letting it pass.

Standing up, she slowly started to remove the skin-tight suit, which prompted Riven to look away once more, which she did by turning the chair around, so that she'd be facing away from her.

What she didn't take into account, though, was that there was a mirror on the wall, right in front of the desk.

She saw Irelia's back as the woman got rid of the suit, bandages crisscrossing her upper back, probably wrapping her chest tightly so as to offer comfort.

She closed her eyes when she bent over to get it off her legs.

She waited until she heard the bed's covers being moved around before opening her eyes again, daring to take a look at Irelia through the mirror.

The woman was sitting up on the bed, the covers up to her waist.

She was frowning at her own hands.

"What's the matter?" Riven dared ask, watching as Irelia looked up at the sound of the Noxian's voice.

"I don't even know why I got the bed," She started, making Riven frown in confusion before she finally explained, "I don't really sleep."

She didn't need to explain anything after that.

"Oh."

She looked uncomfortable, but still asked, "Do _you _sleep?"

Riven shifted on her seat, leaning forwards, her forearms resting atop her thighs. "I manage to sleep enough every night, yes, but it wasn't always like that. It got better for me."

Irelia nodded her head. "How so?"

Riven shrugged, a smirk on her lips as she thought of Diana, protecting her from her nightmares. "I'm friends with the _queen of the dream realm_," She joked, "So I guess that made the Moon spare me from _some _of my torments."

"Ah, right," Irelia said, as if just then remembering Riven and Diana were friends. "So you don't have the nightmares?"

"I do, but they're not as bad?" Riven said, her statement sounding more like a question, for she couldn't quite explain it. "I used to not get a wink of sleep, but Diana somehow manages to make the nightmares go away or, at least, not that bad so that I can sleep."

Irelia nodded her head, showing she was listening, for she was looking at nothing in particular, eyes unfocused, "That must feel good." She looked at Riven, then, "I'm still on the _not get a wink of sleep _stage."

Riven sighed, "Well, maybe the nightmares won't come for you if I'm here to fend them off."

Irelia nodded her head. "Maybe." A yawn escaped her mouth, "I should try that theory."

Riven chuckled, "You should. Goodnight, Irelia."

"Goodnight, Riven."

And Riven watched Irelia get comfortable, waiting enough for her to believe the Captain was asleep or, at least, in the process of it, before she slowly started to remove pieces of her armor.

She left it all on the ground around her, only its' leather pants remaining on her, the Noxian quickly slipping into the shirt she usually wore, before crossing her arms before her and resting her head on the chair's backrest, closing her eyes and letting out a deep exhale.

* * *

The sound of loud crying woke her up with her heart in her throat, her lungs desperate to get air in and out as they usually did when she was overcome with adrenaline.

Riven looked around, confused—

Irelia was thrashing around in the bed.

She didn't think about it as she quickly climbed on top of the Captain, pinning her to the bed by her shoulders, "_Irelia!" _She called her name, trying to shake her out of it.

But she didn't wake up.

"Irelia," She kept trying, her voice strong, her hands shaking her harder and harder. "Irelia, wake up! Ire—"

She saw it just a fraction of a second before it actually happened.

She moved her head to the side, watching as one of Irelia's blades rushed past her, the Noxian letting out a hiss as it brushed against her cheekbone, leaving a cut behind.

Her eyes immediately fell back on Irelia, tears running down the Captain's cheeks, a desperate look on her face as she tried to make sense of where she was, who she was with, the reasons behind it all.

She was breathing heavier—

"It's okay, it's okay," Riven quickly cooed, gently pushing Irelia back against the bed.

But the Captain's eyes moved from Riven's eyes to the cut on her cheek, then to the blade embedded in the room's wall, repeating the process time after time.

Riven nodded her head once, "It's okay, trust me."

And she tried, Irelia _really _tried to keep it controlled, but—

_But the fire that night—_

_And Riven with that blade and green eyes—_

_And the bodies, oh Gods, the bodies—_

_And Riven just now—_

She could feel her tears falling freely as she sobbed into her hands.

Riven felt awful at the sight.

"Hey, no," She gently wrapped her arms around the crying Irelia's body, bringing her up onto a sitting position, "Don't cry."

She heard Irelia mumble something, but she couldn't quite comprehend it, "What?"

"That I'm _fucking _weak," She growled, pulling away, her eyes puffy, "I'm fucking weak and I _hate this."_

Riven looked at her with a frown of concern etched upon her features. "Weak? Because you're crying?" She looked at Irelia in the eye, "You've got no idea of how many times I've woken up like this. Too many nights to count."

"And now?" Irelia asked her, desperation on her tone. "How do you do it _now? _Because it's been _years _and I _still _feel like _this."_

Riven shook her head, unable to answer that, wondering when had Irelia started to trust her enough to show her true colors in front of her, "I don't—" She sighed, "I don't know."

It shook her ground like an earthquake, the fact that Irelia had gone from the cold Captain to a woman with her fan of emotions wide open, on display for her to witness.

It meant too much for her to look into it right now. All she knew was that she definitely didn't like to see the Ionian suffering.

Irelia breathed deeply, trying to calm down, her eyes glued to the cut on Riven's cheek. "I'm sorry about that."

"I will not hear it," Riven offered a sad smile, "You're not the only one who sleeps with a knife underneath her pillow, you know?"

Irelia mirrored her expression, "I know." She noticed it then, "You've taken off your armor."

"Oh," Riven looked at herself, a bit self-conscious, "Yeah, I decided to listen to your advice."

"For a change."

Riven nodded, "For a change."

"And you could also get off me, for a change."

The subtle nudge for Riven to notice she was still straddling the Captain made the Noxian rush to get off her, falling to the ground in the process.

Irelia leaned over the edge of her bed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm good, thank you." Riven quickly said as she got up, "Sorry about that."

But Irelia ignored that, saying instead, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For keeping your promise." She smirked, "Keeping them away."

_The nightmares._

Riven sat on the bed's edge, placing a hand on the Captain's shoulder. "Any time."

And Irelia kept her stare, unwilling to be the one to break it.

Riven grew nervous, her hand moving to her charm—

She gasped because _of course, her charm._

Irelia watched her with a confused frown as Riven quickly got her necklace off, the first time she did so ever since leaving Targon. "How silly of me, to forget about this," Riven mumbled, before showing Irelia the charm, "This is a Lunari charm."

"I thought Lunaris weren't a thing anymore?"

"They aren't, and that's why this one's so special." She regarded it fondly, playing with it for a bit, "Diana gave it to me before I left, a little charm to protect me from all evil." She winked at Irelia at that, "And that's exactly why I think you should have it."

Irelia didn't have the chance to complain before Riven was placing the necklace around the Captain's neck.

"What—"

"Wear this and no nightmare can plague your dreams." Riven said, unsure whether Diana had actually enchanted the charm or not, "I promise you that."

Irelia looked doubtful, but then she said, "Thank you."

Riven smiled, before getting up and moving towards the mirror, looking at the cut on her cheek.

It had been too superficial, too small for blood to come pouring out of it, only a drop making it out.

She dried it off with her shirt's hem, deciding she could leave it like that, expecting it to scab by the morning.

_Maybe it even helps add dramatism to our Noxian entrance._

As if reading her mind, Irelia spoke about the event to come. "How do you feel about tomorrow?"

Riven sat on the chair, turning it to face Irelia. "Nervous. Very nervous," She admitted, letting out a shaky sigh. "I honestly feel very bad about this, but at the same time I think it's a first step in the right direction."

Irelia nodded her head, "I see. Do you have any idea of how we will get in?"

"Yeah, through the front door."

Irelia fought the urge to snort and simply frowned at Riven. "How do you expect that to happen?"

Riven shrugged, "Leith will probably try to find port in some unattended shore, then leave us to try and get in somehow. Truth is, no shore is unattended in Noxus. I'd dare say four, five…" She counted in her head, her eyes on the ceiling as she thought. "No, _six _soldiers, maybe, will be waiting for us there. As soon as Leith leaves us alone, they will surround us."

Irelia sighed, "That's not… _ideal."_

Riven waved her off, "Don't worry about it. We will have to put on a little act, but they will take us straight to Darkwill and then we'll be able to demand Cyrus' head."

"What's this little act you have in mind?"

And the grimace on Riven's face was evidence enough that she wouldn't like what she had to say. "I will have to act all cruel and ruthless. You know," She shrugged, "_Noxian example."_

"And me?"

She looked _genuinely uncomfortable _when she said, "And you will have to pose as my prisoner." At Irelia's expression, one of someone ready to protest, Riven raised her hands, "I will present you as a guest if I realize they have no clue who you are, but if they do, then I can't have you as anything but my prisoner: an Ionian is the second worst person a Noxian can be _friends with._"

"And what's the first?"

"Demacians."

Irelia cackled at that, "Seems you fill in both requirements." She teased, Orlon in mind.

Riven nodded her head, a tired look on her face. "I do."

The exhaustion was evident, _very _evident, on the Noxian's every expression. "You don't have to sleep on the chair, you know?"

Riven looked up at that, a look of alertness on her face.

_Is she suggesting—_

"We could always switch."

_Oh._

"It's fine," She said with a shake of her head, "You should try and rest some."

"Okay," But Irelia didn't look very _okay _with the concept.

So Riven tried to get comfortable to sleep—

"Could you do me a favor?"

Riven looked at her, "Sure. What is it?"

And Irelia looked really uncomfortable asking for this, but, "Could you scoot closer?"

Hesitantly, for she didn't really know what Irelia was hoping for with that, Riven stood up and moved her chair to the side of the bed. "Here?"

"Yes," Irelia said, laying back down and turning to her side, so she was facing Riven.

The Noxian sat down, ready to cross her arms and go to sleep—

Irelia's hand on her wrist stopped her motions, making her freeze in place as she watched what the Ionian wanted her to do.

She grabbed Riven's hand and placed it, along with hers, on the Noxian's thigh.

She didn't release her.

Riven understood what it meant.

She got comfortable enough without letting go of Irelia, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

And neither would dare comment on how Irelia sighed at the way Riven's thumb caressed her skin.

Neither would mention how it continued after several minutes, the Noxian hellbent on not stopping.

The Ionian enjoying it just as much.

And before any of them could fall asleep, she repeated herself.

"You don't have to sleep on the chair."

Slumber already starting to claim her, she mumbled her response, "I'm not switching with you."

But no matter how sleepy she was, she couldn't have had misheard Irelia when she replied, "I'm not asking you to switch."

Riven looked up at the Ionian, only to find her already moving away, making room in the bed.

Why was she suddenly so nervous? "We don't have to."

But Irelia didn't respond, her back to the Noxian, the offer still up.

Riven thought of something else. "I would have to take off the pants, too, you know?"

Again, Irelia did not react.

So, silently, Riven took off the leather pants and climbed into the bed.

"Goodnight." She heard her say.

"Goodnight."

* * *

She had always had that uncanny ability, to wake up whenever her life was threatened.

What she had never expected, though, was for the ability to work in scenarios where her life wasn't on the line.

_Guess you can always learn something new, even about yourself._

She had remained unmoving, eyes closed and deep breathing slow and steady, as she felt the other woman on the bed moving closer.

It proved _almost impossible, _to keep herself from flinching at the contact of Irelia's hand on her back.

She felt it move lower, to the hem of the shirt, before moving it away snaking its' way right back up, skin on skin, the touch so gentle, so soft, that she could have imagined it, the only proof that it was real being the way her heartbeat picked up at the gesture.

Electricity like the one Irelia made her feel in real life could not be replicated by dreams, that much she knew.

She got a sense of how close Irelia actually was now only when she heard her whisper, after a few minutes, "I know you're awake," her breath ghosting over her ear.

Still, Riven did not dare a move, dead still.

"If this is wrong, if this is not what you want, stay just as you are." Irelia kept whispering, her voice so low it could be mistaken by the sounds of the ship, gently rocking and rolling, "But if this is right, if you also want this, turn around and look at me."

_If you also want this._

_What, exactly?_

And she didn't dare answer that question by herself, not because of naivety, of not knowing what such an intimate touch could mean, but because she was uncertain whether the answer she had formed in her head was the one Irelia would give her.

Because, was she just reading a bit too much into it? Her own foolish hopes getting in the way? Or was it all actually as she imagined?

All she knew was that her answer to Irelia's own question was that _yes, _it _was _right and she _did _want it, whatever she was talking about.

Even if she wasn't quite ready to admit it to herself yet, the ignorance to her own thoughts and feelings being the last and only barrier between giving up her emotional dependence or depending of Irelia's answer in order to actually be happy.

Because that was all she really wanted: to be happy.

But she guessed she could give in a little bit, just now.

So, quietly, Riven turned around and faced Irelia.

The Ionian was staring at her.

"Did you really know I was awake?"

She saw Irelia shake her head no. "Wild guess."

She could have stayed still and it wouldn't have meant anything.

But before Riven could regret it, Irelia said, "I'm glad you were."

And as she moved closer, her arms around the Noxian's body, Riven's arms doing just the same, the regret was gone.

"I'm glad too."

They shared no more words after that, slumber quickly claiming them for the night, but right before she fell asleep, Riven could have sworn she felt Irelia's lips brushing against her own.

_All just a silly dream, product of the proximity._

It didn't help in stopping her from wondering whether it had been real or not.

* * *

When she woke up, she was alone.

She looked around, confused, before finally spotting Irelia as she finished getting dressed, casting one quick glance at Riven, "Good morning."

"Good morning," She said, "Are we close to Noxus?"

"We will be arriving in a few, so I advise you start getting ready."

And at those words, Riven quickly got out of bed and obeyed Irelia. "Yes, my Captain," She said, in a singsong voice, hoping to see Irelia react at the nickname.

The Captain smirked at it, but her only reply was, "You're a morning person."

Riven looked at her with a curious expression. "You woke up before I did. If anyone is the morning person here, is you."

"But you're in a remarkably good mood."

"I guess that has to do with how well I slept last night."

She had _not _meant to say that.

Irelia knew that much, evident in how she visibly flinched when it registered in her brain what she had just blurted out.

She wanted to reply to that, but she decided to be merciful with a Noxian _this one time _and let it pass, for a bit.

"I'll be outside," Irelia settled for saying instead.

"Okay, good." Riven pushed out of her mouth, the pitch in her voice higher as she hurried through the action of dressing.

Once Irelia left her alone, she sighed.

She wanted to choke herself.

_What an imbecile you can be sometimes, Riven._

She decided not to comment on the issue anymore.

Once her armor was on her and her sword was strapped to her side, she walked out of the room.

Irelia was standing by Leith's side, a focused frown on her face.

Guessing enough time had passed and she could stop feeling embarrassed, she walked towards them.

"Good morning," She said mostly to Leith, nodding her head once, watching Leith nod back at her. "What's our estimated time of arrival?"

Leith was looking straight ahead when he said, "Now."

Turning around, Riven felt her heart drop at the sight.

The Noxian empire, nearer than it had been in a lifetime.

Right in front of them, away enough so as not to have the whole ship be sighted by coast guards, an _apparently unguarded _shore.

Leith guided them both to a small boat and, climbing it along with them, he rowed to the shore, letting them descend the small wooden boat and find their footing on the shore before saying, "Remember, twenty four hours." And leaving them behind.

They watched as he left, Riven quickly letting out a whispered, "I apologise in advance for my behavior."

And, before Irelia could question that, just like Riven had said—

"_Don't move."_

Despite the warning, Riven's hand grabbed Irelia's arm and, slowly, she turned, Irelia following her lead.

_Six men _with dark armors and long, deadly-looking spears were surrounding them.

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE.

Is... is this enough not-slowburn for yall...

Happy weekend!


	17. Blood For Noxus

"Are you deaf?" One of the six men barked, "I said _don't move!"_

"And who the Hell are you to tell me _not to move?" _Riven growled back, "Don't you know who I am?!" Her voice sounding so violent and filled with aggression, Irelia couldn't help it but look at her, shocked to hear her sound like that, a whiplash kind of effect when she considered how gentle she could sound.

_How gentle she sounded, last night._

The guard took a few steps towards them—

As his spear came close enough to Riven, the white haired woman grabbed it and yanked it from his hands, before swiftly turning it in her own and throwing it at him, successfully piercing his neck, his body falling to the ground.

All of the other guards moved closer at that, spears ready and their guards up, but not as close as the dead man had.

They were _assessing _them, Riven knew.

"Who are you?" One of them spoke loudly, his eyes on Riven.

Riven sneered at him, "I'm the Hand of Noxus, you insolent scum."

Another one barked a laugh, "The Hand of Noxus is General _Darius, _you lying—"

"_General Darius _is _nothing _but my _second in command." _Riven cut him off. "I'm the Leader of the Noxian Army, _Captain Riven _and Darius answers to _me, _that stupid little title of _General _means _nothing." _She smiled, the gesture cruel on her expression, "So you five, as low in the pyramid as a dying, rabid dog, answer to me, too."

They knew her name, their guards faltering as they thought about her words.

"Captain Riven is dead."

"No, you idiot," Riven replied impatiently. "She's _alive _and standing _right in front of you."_ She waited a few minutes, "If you won't let me through, I'll make my way on my own. You won't be alive to witness it, though."

_That _final threat drove the point home. "Who is she?"

"She's my _personal guest." _Riven said, glaring at them, challenging them to question her. "We're here to see the Grand General and I demand you take us there, _right now."_

They were taking _too long_—

"Or you could try and kill us." Riven said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Highly unlikely you'd succeed but, in the case you do, you're bound to face Darius' rage, if he ever found out you found his beloved Leader alive and _killed her_."

It was a thing known all across Noxus, the fact that Darius _admired _her. Some even thought what he felt for her went beyond platonic admiration.

In any case, no one dared speak wrongly of Riven in front of him.

Not when she was round and not even then, when she was presumed _dead._

The guards seemed to know this little bit of trivia, for they subsided. "Follow us."

"What about him?"

The feminine voice made them all stop before they even started to walk.

Irelia had asked that question, regarding the dead man on the ground.

All of the guards stood still, waiting to see if she _really _was who she said she was.

Riven looked at her, a glare on her eyes that was more brutal than anything Irelia had ever seen in them, far more in control, far more dominant, than Riven had ever displayed herself to be, "Let the crows feast on him and take care of the matter."

The soldiers nodded their heads once and started walking. They still doubted her identity, but the fear of making a mistake and actually driving away the former Hand of Noxus made them consider they could be wrong and, having Riven given them the right answer, their doubts were dissipated a little bit more.

Behind them, Riven and Irelia followed, falling into step.

None of them dared a word to the other.

Irelia, looking at Riven with a wary look in her eye.

Riven, looking straight ahead with death around her pupils.

The guards guided them away of the beach, through the high walls that protected Noxus, into the cities.

Irelia's eyes moved from Riven's expression to the Empire that stood tall all around her; the buildings reminding her of claws that reached for the sky, a sky that looked grim and grey with pollution, but she could tell it was mostly her own judgement of Noxus, clouding her mind, expressing it into her vision; Noxus was a powerful country that was perfectly represented by itself: the streets crowded with people who looked from all different kinds of backgrounds, chatting and moving energetically, living in the fast lane, markets surrounding her with loud merchants trying to sell her something, towering walls from the buildings and bridges all around her and—

She quickly moved to a side as Riven gently pushed her, both women barely dodging a street fight.

Two young men were fist fighting, one of them on the ground with a bloody face, the other one on top of him, beating him to a pulp.

Around them, a crowd of people who cheered them on.

Irelia grimaced, "And no one interferes?" She asked in a whisper, hoping only Riven would be able to hear her.

The deadly-looking Noxian huffed a laugh, "Welcome to Noxus."

They kept walking throughout the city's streets, until suddenly they were all hidden from sunlight's kiss.

Irelia frowned at the sky, looking for the offending cloud.

She found no cloud.

She gasped at the sight of a humongous, imposing building ahead of them.

"What's _this?" _She couldn't help herself as she whispered in awe, having never seen a building so tall that it hid the Sun from her eyes.

Not even the Placidium.

Riven's eyes were on the same tower as hers. "This would be the Immortal Bastion." She narrowed her eyes, slightly. "Looks better than the last time I saw it."

Right ahead of them, separated by yet more towering walls, the capital city of Noxus awaited, looking more like a keep of sorts, more a fort than a city, appearing to be as inhabitable as defendable, impossible to penetrate, only available for entering by permission, given only by the heart of Noxus' itself, as it opened its' doors in the form of an invitation.

Walking straight into the Devil's den, the wolf's maw.

And walk straight into it, Riven and Irelia did.

They didn't dare make eye contact with anybody as they followed the soldiers that guided them.

Irelia, out of a sensible _fear_.

Riven, with the purpose of making a statement.

They walked every step towards the door of the Immortal Bastion, the dreadful counterpart of Ionia's Placidium, ignoring the glances that were cast towards them.

But they would have never been able to disregard the man that stood between them and the door to the Noxian palace, having _just_ come out of it.

Riven's jaw feathered, her very soul wishing to damn coincidences and unfortunate timing.

Except nothing ever is just a mere coincidence.

"Halt," He said in an authoritative voice, his expression not changing at all as his eyes fell on the two women standing behind the now frozen guards.

But Riven could tell there was surprise hidden behind his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" He murmured, his eyes narrowing at the smirk on Riven's face.

"My General," one of the soldiers began, "This woman," She pointed at Riven, "Claims to be Captain Riven."

"Long time no see, _Darius." _She smiled at him, "Could you tell these low lifes that calling the Hand of Noxus _this woman _in such an offhand manner is disrespectful and punishable by death?"

It had sounded like a challenge, but they both knew it had actually been a question.

Had Darius told anybody about her being alive?

The soldiers turned to look at her, "Who the Hell do you think you are?" And the one who spoke had the nerve to raise his hand, ready to strike her, Riven not even making a move to stop him—

Darius' hand on his wrist halted his movements, the General gripping him forcefully enough that his hold would be painful.

"How dare you talk to your Captain like that?"

Placing his other hand on the soldier's shoulder, her pulled from his arm and dislocated it, making the man scream, before pushing him to a side and watching him fall to the ground.

He glared at the remaining four soldiers, who stared at him in fear. "Since, apparently, you have forgotten how Noxians go about titles, let me remind you a little thing; Captain Riven had never been officially demoted from being the Hand of Noxus, having only been declared dead. Considering she's alive, her status as deceased is invalid and, therefore, she remains as the Hand of Noxus." He looked at Riven, "I schooled them for you, Captain."

"I'm glad to see you've taken your Noxian law lessons, Darius." She said, finding both power and pride on the fact that the _General Darius himself _had intervened, allowing her to simply stand back and watch the show, a certain dominance hiding behind the fact that she was the only one allowed to call him by his name.

Irelia was all too busy thinking of the fact that, in this country, Riven was _My Captain, _not her.

But then Darius' eyes drifted towards her and she couldn't help but feel wary of him, able to trust Riven but completely unable to trust any other Noxian, let alone _Darius, _of all of them. "I see these soldiers are stupid enough they don't even know who the woman you're escorting is."

Riven shook her head, "They didn't even bother to ask for her identity."

"One would imagine that she looks _Ionian _enough." Darius said, his eyes on Riven's again, pointedly ignoring the looks of _horror _on the soldiers' faces. "At this point, I'm not even asking that they know this is none other than _The Captain of the Ionian Guard, Irelia Lito." _And he could _smell _their fear. "All I ask for is that they can do their job properly, but they're so useless that they can't even get that simple task of _guarding the shore _right."

Before _anybody _could say _anything, _Darius glared at one of them, "You've got three seconds to get out of my sight before I get you all executed for being so useless." He eyed the one on the ground, "And take him with you."

They waited until the soldiers were out of sight, out of mind.

"You didn't tell them."

Darius' head moved millimetrically from side to side. "No."

"Why?"

She was met with silence.

A beat.

Then,

"I hope you understand, _my Captain, _that the Ionian is still alive because she has been invited into the city by _you _and I still respect our traditions—"

And it had been a jab at her; at the broken sword, the Targonian armor, the fact that she walked into the city, side by side with an Ionian.

"—But I'm not your subordinate anymore; a lot has changed in Noxus since last time you were here."

Riven raised a brow. "The Hand of Noxus is the second in line after the Grand General."

Darius shook his head. "The Hand of Noxus is now the fourth in line and I'm before that , so you're talking to a _superior, _but for the sake of old times, I will pretend it's not like that. Now, considering the kindness i'm displaying, I hope you answer me this: _why _are you here?"

Riven didn't have time to question whatever Darius was telling her. "We're here to see Grand General Darkwill and demand he gives us Cyrus' head."

Darius raised a brow. "You want to see _Darkwill."_

"Yes."

Darius smirked, mirth in his eyes. "You probably passed by his tombstone when you sailed your way here."

That was not right.

Riven blinked once, twice, thrice— "Excuse me?"

Darius took a step towards her and Irelia _flinched, _but Riven remained impassive. "Boram Darkwill is dead." He said as he leaned forwards, before standing tall once more. "He was killed by our current Grand General."

He didn't drop the name.

Riven shook her head, that steely resolve faltering a bit. "Why?"

"Because Darkwill was _poison _to Noxus." He said, fury in his eyes. "But don't worry, _Captain_," He said, turning around, looking at her over his shoulder. "Your oaths are to _Noxus, _not to _Darkwill, _so you still hold all your privileges as the Hand of Noxus." He looked ahead, "Now, follow me and I'll take you to the Grand General."

He started walking and, very hesitantly, both women followed. "Why would you take us to him?"

"Because you asked nicely _and _since you didn't know Darkwill was dead, you might as well learn a bit about your _own country. _Besides, I told you already; you were never demoted, so you really still are _The Queen Of The Noxian Army."_

He was lying, Riven could tell.

Not about her never being demoted, but mostly about _schooling her _a bit.

She decided to leave it alone, for now.

They walked into the Immortal Bastion, Darius guiding them throughout the halls, even if Riven realized she remembered them like the back of her hand.

And they were so unlike the Placidium's, it was painful to witness.

The tranquility of the seemingly eternal halls of the Ionian palace, with its' circular shapes and its' nowhere-to-be-found edges, always round and never sharp, each form blending into each other seamlessly was a stark contrast to the harsh, rough edges of the Noxian hallways, the crimson hues the perfect counterpart to Ionia's tranquil blue ones.

Irelia's arm brushed against Riven's, both Captains flinching at the contact, having both unexpectedly drifted closer.

Riven regarded her for a second and Irelia saw the Noxian roughness melt, if only for a moment.

A small smirk, not of mirth or anything else but support.

A brief reminder for her to understand that she was not alone in the game, the Noxian still by her side.

Always by her side.

She wanted to reach out, grab her hand, squeeze it tight and show how much it meant, how much she needed it.

She forgot for a second that Riven, despite her act as a tough Noxian with a hardened exterior, probably needed it all more.

_Definitely _needed it all more.

She felt like there was no ground underneath her feet.

Reminded of exchanges that had existed so long ago, walking around in illusions formed long before her, ones which would remain on Runeterra long after she was gone, she felt like a stranger in her own skin, like an impostor, yet at the same time, she had never felt more like herself.

It was a dangerous line to toe.

She felt the drums of war in her heart, but the wails of sorrow in her soul.

It was hard, to be so painfully split in two.

So painfully riven into two different people.

And not the kind of people who could coexist in peace.

She felt sick at herself, disgusted at how easily she had fallen into the Noxian act.

How familiar it all was, how the muscle memory worked and nothing was too long ago for her not to remember.

How a broken part of her with vile intentions, a poisonous voice and wicked words enjoyed the company of the ghost she had become, if only to walk into Noxus unscathed.

So she'd remind herself it was _only _to enter and exit peacefully.

An identity to use as her shield, then discard.

A shield, but not her _banner._

They reached a door Riven remembered very well.

"The Meeting Room." She mumbled, unable to forget the days she had spent locked up in there, with Darius, Darkwill and other important people, scheming their next move, strategizing and improving their tactiques.

Darius opened it.

Several men and women, the most prestigious people of Noxus, those holding political power over the Empire, were sitting by a round table.

At the far end, a man with long, white hair, black eyes and a cruel expression, a stare cold as ice yet able to make you burst into flames, somehow.

When the doors had opened, they all turned to look at them.

The man stood up.

"You're all dismissed," He said, his eyes on Riven, not even looking at Irelia as he added an authoritative, "Now."

He hadn't given the Noxian nobility the chance to react to these two women who were now in the Meeting Room, hadn't given them the time to recognize any of them, his orders being followed immediately as everyone quickly left the room, Darius closing the door behind them.

And suddenly the room felt smaller, ironically more crowded, even if it only contained four people.

The tall man who was dressed in a black armor, a cloak over his shoulders, walked around the table, "Captain Riven," He said, "Welcome back to Noxus. A few things have changed since the last time you were here, but I bet you will not mind said changes." He smiled, but the gesture was more terrifying than amicable, "And I see you brought a _guest."_

It was only then that Riven remembered Irelia was there with her, too.

The white haired man moved towards them, but kept a healthy distance as he came to stand in front of them. "_Blade-witch." _He said to Irelia. "I never thought I'd see your face again." Raising a brow, he added, "You've grown up, but I could recognize those eyes _anywhere_."

Riven frowned, "You know _him?"_

Irelia's hands were trembling, adrenaline kicking all of her senses into an overdrive.

The man didn't give her time to reply, though, as he chuckled, "We know each other pretty well. After all, I owe who I am to her." He moved his left arm from underneath his cloak—

"What in the seven rings of Hell—"

His arm had nothing human to it, resembling a crow's foot more than a person's hand, a crimson color to it, looking like the imprint of fresh blood bathing his limb.

Irelia's dancing blades suddenly filled the room, but nobody, not even Darius, made a move to stop her.

The man clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "What do you think you're doing?"

Irelia was breathing heavily, "I—"

"Do you think I would try to seek revenge for my departed arm?" He questioned, laughing despite the blades that circled her, that aimed at him. "If anything, girl, you did me a _favor. _You can put those away, for no bloodshed will occur between you and I." He was still smirking as he said, "After all, you're _The Hand Of Noxus' _guest, untouchable by right."

"It's okay, Irelia," Riven announced, looking at the ionian with the hint of a smile. "Trust me."

So Irelia slowly obeyed, even if it felt wrong in her heart, the blades she had so quickly called to the battle, slowly moving back to their place.

The man watched her until they were all gone, before nodding his head once. "Wise decision, Captain." He said, no taunt behind his recognition of Irelia's title, "And I realize that neither of you know who I am."

"You're Boram Darkwill's murderer."

He looked at Riven with a smile on his lips. "I'm Jericho Swain, the Noxian Grand General and Trifarix Leader of Vision and I did this country a _service _when I killed him."

"_Trifarix Leader of Vision?" _Riven scoffed, "What does that even _mean?"_

"It means that Noxus is now ruled by a council of _three _Leaders, Swain being one of them, me being another one," Darius replied for him, "The Trifarix Leader of Might, so now you've got _three people _above you in rank, Riven." He said her name, as if trying to drive the point home. "I would be careful how you address him."

_Him, _but not _me._

Riven noticed that slipup.

"If you're only two, where's the third?"

"Leader of Guile." Swain said, "But you will not be meeting said Leader. Whatever matters brought you to Noxus, you will discuss them with _me."_

Riven wanted to laugh, "Because Noxus might have three leaders, but you remain the one in control."

Swain raised a brow, "To an extent, yes, but it's mostly because the people of this Empire know me well enough to know I will unite Noxus as one unstoppable force instead of wasting our time in futile wars. They trust me because they know I don't trust men and I detest them instead." He smirked at her, a challenge on his face. "Only nations may be revered."

"You forget you're human, Swain." Riven spat back.

"You don't know enough about me to make such a statement to freely, Captain." He merely replied. "But we're not here to talk about me." He turned and walked towards the end of the table, Darius following suit and sitting by his side, both women still standing by the other end of it. "Come forth, sit down and let's discuss what brings you here."

Irelia took a deep breath and followed, Riven closely behind her.

She was going to sit by the Grand General's other side, but Riven quickly intercepted her, taking the seat from her.

_Like Hell I'm letting you near this one._

Irelia would remember the gesture.

"You don't look surprised to know I'm alive."

"No one can hide a secret so important from me." He explained, his eyes on Riven. "I must admit I'm still disappointed at Darius for not letting me know of such an important fact, but I will let it fly this one time, knowing men to be weak for their humanly loyalties." He looked at Darius, then, "But this is the only time I will let it pass. Betray Noxus again and you will be judged."

Darius lowered his head a fraction of an inch.

"How long have you known?"

Swain looked at her again, "Long enough to have done something, but not long enough to make a decision about what to do."

She wondered how he found out.

She knew he wouldn't answer it.

"Let's stop beating around the bush," Irelia intervened, already too nervous about the whole thing to remain quiet and let Riven take the lead, "We're here for a man who's committed war crimes against his own country." She declared, clever enough to know a Noxian wouldn't care of the crimes committed against Ionia.

Swain nodded his head. "Cyrus."

"Where is he."

Riven had not asked a question.

And she had no doubt about the man still breathing.

Swain's head lolled to a side.

The questions in his head were not regarding whether she really knew about this man's status as alive or deceased or if she was merely bluffing, for he could tell she was certain he was still kicking.

The questions were of other nature, questions Riven asked herself.

Did he know _who _had given her the information about him being alive?

Would he ask about it?

"You really want him to pay for what he's done, don't you?" He asked instead, letting go of his own doubts, disregarding them as minor issues.

Both Irelia and Riven guessed that maybe he could only find out about the secrets people considered important, those that weighed on your heart and your soul, but not about those which could be small and shrugged off.

Riven tried not to decide whether she had seen Darius sigh in relief or not, out of her peripheral vision.

She chose to focus on the fact that this Swain man had just confirmed two things, definitely on purpose:

One, that Cyrus was, indeed, still alive.

Two, that he had _not _been punished.

She decided to make him add a third to the list. "So you can confirm that he's guilty of what we believe?"

Swain grinned. "He _is _guilty of betraying the Noxian Empire by attacking his fellow countrymen."

Riven slammed her hands against the table, "_Where is he then?!"_

"Do you think he would still be alive if he were on Noxian grounds? A _traitor _to this country?"

"You killed our Grand General and you're still here, so I cannot see why not."

She had _growled _at him.

Swain seemed to find it amusing.

"I betrayed Darkwill, but I didn't betray Noxus." He stated, "I remained loyal to our principles. The man you're looking for has betrayed _Noxus, _so he'd be dead if he were here."

Irelia nodded her head millimetrically, making a mental note.

_Cyrus is alive, but he's not in Noxus._

_Where is he then?_

"We do not know his whereabouts," Swain said, replying to Irelia's mute question, "And we do not care about them, for he's already gone, officially stripped of his titles, exiled."

And what Swain had just said reverberated deep in the Ionian Captain's soul, for she knew it was somehow anticipating something really bad that was about to be said—

"You, on the other hand, are still here."

Riven's fury subsided for a second.

"And self exile is just one of a long thread of crimes you've committed against this country, Riven."

The door to the Meeting Room opened, suddenly, a swarm of guards entering it, spears and swords and axes at the ready.

Irelia hoped to call upon her blades, but she couldn't move, realizing a crimson hand made of magic held her, its' grip strong enough that she couldn't even fight it.

Riven unsheathed her broken blade, "You promised us _immunity!"_

"I promised your _guest _immunity, which she will be given. I'm merely preventing her from breaking the diplomacy deal between Ionia and Noxus. You, on the other hand," And then another red wave of magic imprisoned her, "Are still bound to our rules and the crimes you've committed demand a trial."

He stood from his chair and stood right in front of the trapped Noxian. "We still do trials by combat, if you so wish to choose that alternative." He narrowed his eyes, as if in deep thought, "I would advise you to choose such alternative, for I believe it's the only way you may win your own trial, but I won't make it easy for you. You see, the best armor is being forgotten and you, my dear, are quite forgettable." His face was devoid of mirth, a General's cold calculating stare in his eye, "I cannot grant you such a shield. Your name must be remembered by all of Noxus again, before falling into eternal oblivion, so we will put on a show." He looked at the rest of the men in the room, motioning for them to grab Riven, who remained trapped by his powers, before looking at— "Darius, spread the word; there's Blood for Noxus."

And he didn't look back at her, not even at Irelia, when he said,

"Noxus will have yet another Fleshing."

* * *

Author's Note:

Damn, right?

The lenghtier the comment, the happier the author wink wink


	18. The Fleshing

Riven was growling, screaming, trashing, _fighting it all _with a might that not even the bravest Noxian could ever display, the Grand General's magical grip on her being strong enough to root her to the ground, but unable to stop her limbs from moving, her arms not trapped under the raven's claw that immobilized her, unlike Irelia's.

Soldiers attempted to approach her with chains, but she kept pushing them away, her battlecry being a repeated, loud, _I'll kill you all! I'll kill you all!_

And then Swain raised his demonic arm and closed his fist with strength.

Riven did not feel the effect.

She _saw it, _instead.

The bloody claw that gripped Irelia started to squeeze her, darkness slowly starting to surround the helpless Irelia.

"If you fall out of line, your precious _guest _will pay the price, diplomacy damned and her immunity gone." Swain's voice was low, vicious and feral, the threat more real than anything Riven has ever had happening to her. "Play smart, Riven, because every action that you make will have a consequence."

Riven resisted for only a second more, her eyes desperately clinging to the suffering Irelia—

Swain gripped harder and the Captain let out a pained cry.

And the battle within Riven was immediately lost.

Her arms falling idly to her sides, chains were draped all around her like deadly cloaks, her wrists, ankles and neck shackled, ten soldiers split in teams of two, each group pulling from each metal string, forbidding the Noxian from daring a move.

Not like she would try anything, now.

"The same goes to you," Swain said, his eyes going to the still trapped Irelia as he released the defeated Riven. "Don't even think about it or else you'll be left unprotected, still inside the wolf's maw."

He stared at Irelia for a few seconds, watching the Captain hold his stare.

Fire behind the ice cold of her eyes.

He smirked, releasing her as he did so.

Irelia didn't move.

"Take her to the Gladiator's Chambers." Swain ordered. "Strip her of that ridiculous armor and get her something more traditional. The trial will be tonight."

The soldiers pulled violently from the chains and dragged Riven away, leaving Swain and Irelia alone, Darius long gone, too.

"What will you do to her?"

The growled question made him raise his brows at the Captain, faintly surprised at how her attitude had changed. "Nothing I wouldn't do to any other desertor." Swain replied with narrowed eyes, "My feud with Riven is not personal, Captain Lito, so I advice you don't take it that way, either."

His reply, reading so easily between the lines and so deeply into her soul, made her both uneasy and even more furious, but she tried to keep her cool, aware of how much she had to lose if she didn't remain collected. "I can't see how this isn't personal."

Swain got in her space, leaning forwards a bit, a look of quiet annoyance on his expression. "I was not lying when I said she's still bound to our rules," He stood tall once more. "I don't care about her as Jericho Swain; I had never even seen her in person before. I care about her on behalf of _Noxus, _because what kind of ruler would I be, what kind of _Empire_ would we be if we didn't reprimand someone who breaks our _laws? _She disappeared as the Hand of Noxus and no one took that title away from her, a lesson for me to learn and a mistake not to repeat, but it still means she _must _answer to our law and the consequences behind her actions, just like any other Noxian would, no matter how much time has passed since the last time she was actually a Noxian and felt like one."

She slowly started walking around, circling Irelia. "Desertion is a crime punishable by _death, _specially considering she's part of the Noxian military forces, _specially _considering she's the _Hand of Noxus, _the _Leader _of the Noxian army." He looked at her over his shoulder, "The fact that I'm willing to let her face a trial is already merciful enough that I could be questioned about it, but it's a generosity I'm willing to have with her, even if she doesn't deserve it."

"She doesn't deserve—"

"She doesn't deserve my kindness," Swain sneered, suddenly facing her, leaning forwards so as to be eye level with her, "Because I was a victim of my circumstances just as much as her and I didn't betray my country; I _came back to right its' wrongs." _He spat on her face, reading her mind and replying to her thoughts, in an ominous way. "She committed desertion and, as if that weren't enough, she _sided with the enemy on a bellic conflict _and _joined the military of two different regions with animosity against Noxus," _She lifted his hand to count them, "Targon and _Ionia, _the last one being a region we were invested on conquering, _all while still being Hand of Noxus_."

He stood tall once more, "Having done what here in Noxus is considered the worst kind of sins, the fact that Riven is not facing the butcher's block but a _trial instead _is a kindness that doesn't _exist _here."

"She's not facing a _trial," _Irelia growled, "She's facing a _public execution."_

"She's facing a trial because she _could choose _to legally defend herself instead of fighting for her innocence, but things in Noxus don't go as they do in Ionia." He smiled, "Here, you're _guilty until proven the contrary, _not the other way around, and there's quite literally no way for her to claim innocence: _all of Noxus _knows of her crimes. I suggested she chose a trial by combat because, that way, she can _at least _have a chance at walking away safely. Don't you see, Captain? As a fellow Noxian, I was _kind. _As the Grand General, I was forced to be _cruel."_

"And tell me something, _kind _General Swain." She was glaring at him, "Are _all _trials by combat so _publicly promoted?"_

Swain laughed, "No, but she gives me the chance to make a statement: prove that in Noxus, criminals pay for their crimes. If I did it any other way, I'd face the worst enemy a leader can have."

Irelia watched as Swain opened the door to the room they were in, "Which is?"

"Doubts and distrust. Now, enough chit chat, Captain." He motioned for her to follow him, "Let's go to the Fleshing Arena, get you settled on the good seats."

* * *

At least an hour had passed until she finally arrived to her destination.

They threw her in a small, rather dark room that she knew was supposed to be _The Gladiator's Chambers, _but it actually felt like an animal's cage, specially so as the ten men who had escorted her approached her, unshackling her but keeping their weapons at the ready, in case she dared do something.

She wouldn't though.

Because if she did—

One of the guards spoke loudly. "Strip." He commanded in a monotone voice as he lit the torches in the room, so as to provide her with some light. "Gladiators are allowed to fight only in Noxian clothing."

Riven glared at him, but no word came from her.

She looked around the room, finding there was nothing for her to put on, were she to obey.

"What would I fight in?"

Another guard moved to the front, one she hadn't seen slipping out of the room only to come back with—

He threw what he carried to the ground, in front of her.

A white robe, a leather belt that looked more like an abdominal binder, sandals and three pieces of armor: a gauntlet for her right hand, a greave and a shoulder plate.

"General Darius said this would be all you'd need." The guard said, "Since your blade is Noxian, you're allowed to wield it in combat."

Riven stared at the clothing on the ground.

Last time Darius had seen her fight, she was practically dressed like that, her _Exile fashion _on full display for him to see.

And he had remembered.

Not only that, he had _ordered _they allowed her to fight like that.

To others, it may seem like an insult; Darius was dressing her up as the Exile once more. This time, for all of Noxus to see and shame.

But Riven knew it wasn't like that.

She knew Darius was aware of her mobility needs, of how lacking armor was her strongest weapon.

It was a _mercy._

It proved to her that what she had told Irelia that night in her office was the truth; whatever Darius did for her, it wasn't out of treason to Noxus.

It was out of loyalty to her.

So she quietly obliged, stripping until she was laid bare, no guard reacting to her body, the scars that ran over her skin, some as faint as white lines and others deep and textured, like rivers splitting the forest in multiple parts.

She picked up the curiously designed robe and got it on, first sliding her legs in through the short, pant-like piece of it, before sliding her arms and head through the top piece, her limbs free from cloth as the strips that composed most of it crisscrossed her chest and went down her back in the same fashion, the fabric being comfortably tight on her torso and her upper thighs, those being the only parts of her that it covered.

She didn't mind at all, though.

She placed the leather binder around her abdomen, letting it offer her robe support, tightening it enough for it to be perfectly fastened but not enough for her to be unable to breathe.

She put the sandals on, before moving to the shoulder plate and the greave.

Her hands still wrapped with their bandages, she placed her gauntlet on.

"I'm finished."

Automatically, the guards moved towards her and shackled her right leg, the left one being the one armored, chaining her to the wall by it.

She noticed there was no keyhole on the shackles and questioned it out loud.

The guard huffed, "This is how things are done now. It makes it harder to escape."

It was awfully metaphorical; how could you free yourself if there was no no lock to unlock, no entry to the trapping mechanism, no way of releasing your limbs?

She was nothing but a slave to her destiny, with no way out of it.

No key to fit in the lock and release her from her fate.

No lock to be manipulated, opened, rendered useless.

No escape, no way out.

Not without help, at least.

She couldn't fight on her own, anymore.

And she felt alone at the moment.

"Now, you're to wait."

So Riven nodded her head once and sat down.

Waiting for the Gods to judge her.

* * *

The road to the Gladiator's Arena was long and quiet, the Noxian Empire being too big for them to walk around it in just a matter of minutes, the trip having been as long as an hour, if Irelia had counted correctly.

She had followed Swain with a glare in her eyes, entering the Arena and climbing up to its' top level, following him to the balcony where spectators —the most revered of them —would watch the bloodbath underneath them happening.

She hated how the view took her breath away.

A humongous, circular desert, surrounded by walls with gate after gate on them, entrances that probably led to each of the Gladiator's Chambers hidden behind the bricks. Tall walls that, high above the wasteland and far enough from danger, offered terraces for spectators to crowd and occupy, to watch the battle happening underneath, organized in levels, for the most noble Noxians to occupy those on top, the lower class ones taking over the ones underneath.

A battle to the death, turned into a show for all of Noxus to witness.

It was sickening.

Sickeningly fascinating, for some.

And to think Riven was somewhere in this Arena, caged like a rabid animal...

It made her want to throw up.

She hated how Noxus, so contrary to everything she held dear, sometimes spoke to the cruelest side of her.

She wanted to burn it to the ground, if only for how big of an insult to life it all was.

There was a particularly small balcony, divided from the rest, with three settees on it.

Swain entered that one and Irelia followed.

Darius was sitting on the far right sofa.

"Take any seat you'd like," Swain indicated, "I'll be back here soon."

He turned and left, leaving Irelia and Darius alone.

Her jaw tightening, her fists shaking, she wanted to _kill him._

She opted for having a word with him, instead.

She stomped her way to him and stood right in front of the Noxian man, watching as his eyes moved from the evening in front of him to her own pupils.

She slowly leaned forwards until their faces were too close for it to be comfortable, bracing herself by placing her hands on each of his seat's armrests.

Darius didn't seem too perturbed. "Did you need something?"

"I need you to _fucking_ do something about this."

The growl Irelia had spoken with, the _insult _coming out of someone he expected to be calm and collected made Darius raise his brows.

"About what?"

Irelia screamed at his face when she said, "_About Riven's trial!"_

Darius let out a long exhale, before slowly getting up, his movements making Irelia pull away, though she didn't take a step back, still invading his personal space. "Riven is a Noxian who's gone against our laws and, as such, she must be judged like any of us would be. No matter how badly I want to do something about it, I _can't_, because I _can't _go against my people; she's a criminal and she shall be treated as such."

"A criminal for having _one of her soldiers betray her?!" _Irelia roared at his face. "She's _innocent!"_

"She's innocent of what happened to her but not of her actions regarding it." Darius responded, his voice tense with anger but he still managed to reign in on it. "She _could _have come back and she _didn't, _choosing to blindly blame Noxus and never come back demanding answers. She choose and now she must face her consequences."

"She chose what she did because she woke up _alone, _her whole _army having abandoned her."_

"Don't you _fucking dare say that_," The Might of Noxus said, growling at her as he moved forwards, making Irelia walk backwards until her back hit the railing that prevented people from falling into the Arena. "Because you don't have the _faintest clue _of what happened during that war. Not even _Riven _knows." His eyes were hot on hers, anger evident on the lines on his forehead, "Nobody knew The Crimson Elite was present during the conflict and _all I knew _was what Riven was willing to tell me; that she wouldn't lead us to battle and that I had to do it instead." His jaw locked, his teeth gritting, "No rescue party was sent because _absolutely no one knew a gods damned thing about their whereabouts!" _He was losing his cool, nostrils flaring, "I was commanded to go back to Noxus and, instead, I _stayed, _disobeying my orders and I _searched for her, before daring giving up!" _He was screaming on her face, "So _don't tell me _I know _nothing _about that night, because it's _you _who doesn't know the whole story."

Irelia was frozen in place.

She closed her eyes, shutting him out for a second and using her time alone in her head to recollect her thoughts, pick up every piece of information she held regarding that night and organize it, like a big map of events that happened simultaneously.

Riven had given Darius only two orders; to play his part, taking her role for the night and _not _to ask questions.

Darius obeyed and lead the attack on the front, being the only one who knew the real Hand of Noxus was somewhere else, the only one who knew the Crimson Elite was even present on the fight, their mission being, apparently, so secret, so sensitive and crucial that absolutely _no one else _in the Noxian military could even know about it, about them.

Riven sneaked around Ionia, trying to get in through the back door, escorting the Zaunite Unit; the one character in the whole act that _no one _seemed to know _anything _about.

_But if Swain and Darius know about Cyrus, then—_

_Finish the tale._

Irelia fought with Riven.

The Crimson Elite fell under Ionian efforts, except for Riven and—

Cyrus set them ablaze.

But now the story was longer, for she could see how it continued the morning after.

Now she knew that, as dawn had come, the Noxian forces who remained alive were commanded to fall back and retreat, return to Ionia. Riven having not appeared, Darius disobeyed and remained in Ionian lands for longer, searching for her.

Having not found her, she returned to Noxus, confirming her as dead.

Darkwill was killed.

Swain and Darius stand as the leaders of Noxus, along with someone else, the Guile of Noxus.

Riven had been _right, _she noticed.

Maybe now it was —or it _seemed _—different, but the truth was that Darius' loyalties didn't lay with Noxus.

They laid with her.

If he had told her about Cyrus, it was because he still stood by her.

"Have you ever questioned how it feels from this side?"

It made Irelia open her eyes.

Darius was still on her face, his expression not as neutral as it had always been, finally displaying how he felt.

He felt enraged.

And she could see he also felt helpless.

"How do you think it feels to see _your leader, _the person you've admired _the most _ever since meeting her, damning absolutely everything you both shared, cared about, held dear, at some point in life?" She could see the muscles on his jaw, "How do you think I felt when I saw she was _alive _and fighting for my _enemies? _Don't you think it shook my core beliefs, if only for a second? I constantly see myself having to choose; Noxus or Riven and I _keep finding myself excusing her behavior, _even if my heart now lays in _Noxus."_

Because the old Darius' very soul was still chained to his leader's.

"I'm split in two and I can't pick a side, no matter how hard I try. That's why I don't choose at all and let someone else do it." Let _Swain _do it, because— "Because I know, _everyone knows_ I'm biased and these are not Noxus' best interests."

And the new Darius wants to protect just that.

There was a shine to his eyes, "So I feel as pained as you, seeing her be nothing but a prisoner, suffering for little more than show and an implied message for the masses, but I understand there's no other way. At least, not in Noxus." He stood tall, pulling away from her, "So we both will have to suck it up and watch the show, Captain, because Riven's enemies are the Noxian rules she so blindly broke. Not Swain, not me, _no one _else, but her own actions and their long overdue consequences."

It was hard, Irelia realized, to open up a narrow mind.

It was even harder to accept when the narrow mind was one's own.

And maybe she couldn't possibly do it at the moment, the process of letting go of her prejudices and accepting the truth to be different being long enough that she couldn't go through it in a matter of minutes, but she was aware of the fact that she could see someone sensible and even _likeable _in Darius.

She could see herself agreeing with him.

It made her feel dirty, like she was betraying Ionia, in a way.

It was hard: to wrap her head around the fact that not everything was a perfect black-and-white contrast, grey areas appearing all around her, defying her moral grounds.

Riven was a shade of grey, perfectly in the middle.

Darius, another one, close to Riven.

Swain, a third, darker hue.

But they were all morally _grey._

And opening one's mind to new alternatives and possibilities was hard, but not _impossible._

Eventually, she would be able to understand that the world was not that simple and there were greys to understand and even find herself in, but for now, it was hard enough to _live._

She could accept that she had been on the same grey area as Riven for a while now, but she could do it later.

For now, it was easier to keep pretending she wasn't aware of it.

At some point, Darius had sat down on his chair again.

Irelia breathed deep and sat down next to him, her arms crossed right in front of her.

They didn't speak again.

There was no real tension between them, either.

Darius knew she had given the girl a lot to think about and Irelia knew he was aware of such a fact, because it could be seen on her face just how hard she was _thinking._

Riven, Darius and Swain.

The three of them had faced the _same _fate under different contexts, but the conflict remained the _same._

The three of them had come face to face with the fact that the Noxus they loved and fought for was not the Noxus that they were living for; they were all abandoned and betrayed by their land.

Riven chose to turn her back on it, just like it turned its' back on her.

Swain chose to come back and fight for what he believed, bringing Noxus back to its' glory.

Darius fought for his leader and seemed willing to follow her wherever she went, but gave in the moment he felt his search was futile and turned around, returning to Noxus to fight for his beliefs and the country he hoped for, just like Swain had done.

They had all seen the same truth and the three of them had chosen different paths.

All of them logical and perfectly justified, but all of them carrying their consequences with them.

Darius and Swain fought hard and reshaped Noxus.

Riven skipped the fighting and battled inside her own mind.

It was shocking, to see how what they had coming for them finally caught up.

Irelia sighed. "How does the Fleshing go?"

Darius shifted on his seat, trying to relax into it. "The Fleshing is a gladiatorial event where, as a fighter wins their matches, the number of opponents they fight simultaneously increases." Darius looked at Irelia, aware of her eyes on him, the alertness to them, "It does mean eventual death of all contenders just as much as it also means unparalleled glory, but Riven's Fleshing won't carry out like that. Trials by combat are usually a match between the accused one and a representative of Noxus, chosen by the judge. In Riven's case, Swain acted as the judge, made a strange move and called the Fleshing as the representative of Noxus." He shrugged, "Since Riven's crimes were against _all _of us, considering it was betrayal of the worst kind, he deemed it fair that she fought for _all _of Noxus to see, against the event that represents us all." He sighed, "So her fleshing will be her against _Noxus, _whatever that means."

Irelia frowned. "You don't know?"

Darius shook his head. "Swain is organizing it."

And the mention of the Grand General brought something to mind. "Darius," She called his name, feeling it strange on her tongue, but trying not to think too much about it, "Do you know what Cyrus did, that night?"

Darius' frown was as deep as hers.

The seconds that passed felt longer than what they actually were.

"I will have to ask you to forget who I am for a minute," Irelia said, knowing exactly what was going on in his head, "Not for me, but for…"

He knew who she was talking about, no name needed.

Irelia saw him look around.

"When I came back to Noxus after that fiasco, I was met with a coup; Swain, backed by my brother and several other Noxians, had killed Darkwill and taken control of the Empire, a thing possible due to how we _value strength; _if Darkwill had died, then it meant he was not fit to rule, his killer being in far better shape for it." His eyes moved around frantically. "_He _had been the one to order the retreat. With Riven gone, I was the temporary Hand of Noxus, so I was called into the Meeting Room and briefed on what had happened before I could even react to the news; with the Noxian army gone, Swain striked the defenseless Grand General and defeated him, becoming the new leader of Noxus. He explained to me his motives; Darkwill was far gone, insane with power and hellbent on conquering lands and winning campaigns far too out of our reach, when what Noxus needed was a change of heart, a return to its' culture, habits, glory, but he didn't care for it all; it was all stupid nonsense to a man so desperate for power, ignorant of how one's power needs a strong base and principles in order to survive and be respected by others."

"So that's why he killed him."

Darius nodded. "He killed Darkwill because he considered he was betraying and harming our nation." He was nervous about telling her this all, the Ionian woman not being able to believe how uncomfortable he seemed, a look completely strange on him, as off on him as humanly possible. "Regarding the Ionian conflict, Swain informed me that Darkwill had asked our Zaunite allies for help with our move to invade and they helped by giving us a chemical weapon that the Crimson Elite were supposed to detonate in the Placidium." Darius continued, "It never happened, as you already know." He swallowed his own saliva, "That's what convinced me of backing him up; Darkwill's insanity had ruined Noxus and killed Riven, so I felt that it was a sort of poetic justice, for Swain to be the new Grand General and for me to back him up."

Irelia shook her head a bit, "But _Zaun? Why _was Zaun..."

She trailed off when she saw him flinch a bit.

Apparently, he hadn't wanted her to pinpoint that.

Or, maybe, he had expected her to pinpoint it to _Riven, _not to him.

He seemed to debate something in his head, before finally giving up.

He cleared his throat, "The Crimson Elite's mission that night was secret due to the fact that it showed very explicitly that Noxus had a bond with Zaun, which still exists, _up to this day._" He said in a very low, murmured voice, but Irelia caught it.

He had given her information he shouldn't be sharing.

"No other country should know about Noxus and Zaun's alliance. No one did back then and no one knows for sure today."

He _glared _at her at that.

He was commanding her to keep the secret.

She nodded her head once.

He resumed his storytelling. "After all of that, I agreed on becoming his Hand, only to later on create the Trifarix with him, being the Might while he was the Vision."

"And what about Cyrus?"

His hand moved to his chin, his fingers scratching at his stubble. Judging by the way he was frowning, he didn't really know about this man.

Or he had a piece of information he was debating whether he could share it or not.

What did that change, considering everything he had said before?

"There's not much I knew about the Crimson Elite and they _still _remain a mystery to me; Riven had never told me about them so as to keep both her team and I safe. I know they all died that night, except for Riven and Cyrus, and we have had it confirmed by Swain that it had been Cyrus who detonated the Zaunite Unit."

_Swain? _"And how does he know?"

"He wasn't lying when he said no one can really keep a secret from him." Darius explained. "He always finds out about everything, I don't really know how."

Irelia nodded in understanding, but she was not happy about it.

Darius continued, "Riven was presumed dead and Cyrus never came back. Judging by his disappearance and how he was never seen around here again, his reasons to detonate the cargo unknown, it was decided that Noxus would disown him, announcing him to be a traitor to our nation."

Irelia could tell there was something else Darius knew, something he had trouble sharing with her.

_Something too sensitive: a clear betrayal to Noxus._

_Or to Swain._

Because he had said too much, but truth be told, Irelia could have found out about it all by her own means.

Whatever Darius was holding on to at the moment was something only he knew.

Something Irelia could find out only through him.

No, he wouldn't betray Noxus for her, tell her whatever it was that kept him wide eyed, gaze unfocused.

_But maybe he will say it to Riven._

Because Darius would turn a blind eye for his former superior.

"I see," She said, then dropped it.

With a perfect timing, Swain walked in.

Almost in sync with the Grand General, Irelia watched as people started flooding every single balcony around her.

Swain's eyes were on the horizon, the dusk that was almost done. "The Fleshing is about to start," He told them, "So I advice you stand up and approach the railing for the announcement." He had been looking at Irelia. His eyes then moved to Darius', his head moving on a small nod.

Just like that, Darius stood up and left.

Irelia was on her feet but, instead of following after Darius, she moved to stand next to Swain.

She tried to ignore the fear in her arteries.

It proved impossible.

* * *

She was sitting on the ground, her eyes closed and both hands on her blade.

She heard the door to her chambers open and every guard around her suddenly stomped their feet on the ground once, the clear indication of them standing on attention.

Riven opened her eyes and looked up.

"Time to begin." Darius said to her, swinging his axe and breaking the chain, before offering her hand to help her stand up.

"These shackles are very counterproductive for Noxus." She commented.

Darius made no move, remaining still, his hand still stretched.

And despite the fact that a side of her wanted to reject it, Riven took it and allowed him to get her up on her feet, following the Might of Noxus through her gate.

To the Arena.

* * *

Swain lifted his hand up in the air and the murmur of the crowds around them subsided.

"It's been a long time since we've last had a Fleshing, no?" He said, his voice boomingly loud, and he smirked at the way the crowds went wild at his question, before quieting down again. "But tonight's event is not like the ones we've had up until today. Tonight's Fleshing will be different, since it will act as a trial by combat, requested by _Captain Riven _as her means of defending herself from the criminal accusations against her name_."_

At his words, the crowds started murmuring again.

"Nobody knew she was still alive," Swain said lowly to Irelia, who stood by his side, as an explanation to the people's reaction, before speaking to the people of Noxus again, "I call the accused to come forth!"

And at his words, one of the gates on one of the Arena's walls opened.

Irelia's breath hitched.

She saw Darius walk in, Riven following suit behind him.

They moved towards the center of the Arena and faced Swain's balcony.

Riven looked up, her eyes on Irelia.

The Ionian Captain felt as if her heart would explode, judging from how fast it was beating.

She was starting to know what real, pure, unadulterated _terror _felt like.

She had never expected to feel it for Riven's life.

She moved her hand to her own neck, the nervousness making her fidgety—

She felt the necklace around her neck.

_Riven's Lunari charm._

_I never gave it back._

Her fingers moved towards the symbol and, as she played with it, she closed her eyes.

_My Goddess…_

_Could you aid us in our trying times?_

Swain eyes were on her, too, "I didn't take you for a religious person," He commented, amusement evident on his tone.

"I'm not religious." Irelia said, eyes still closed, "But desperate times call for desperate measures."

Swain huffed a laugh, but did not comment on it.

He knew Gods were real.

"Riven," He addressed her in his authoritative tone, "You're accused of turning your back to your nation, betraying the Noxian Army by deserting and, worst of it all, _fighting against your fellow countrymen _on behalf of an enemy nation, protecting our enemies from our bellic attempts." He waited a few seconds, letting everyone process the list of crimes. "As a response to such claims, you've requested a trial by combat, which will be granted to you but with a twist: since your crimes have been committed against all of Noxus' best interests, your trial will be harder than most, following the Fleshing's most common procedures instead of those usual for trials by combat. In any case, I will remind you now that this trial is for you to try and _save yourself from execution; _your crimes have some immediate effects. You will no longer be recognized as a Noxian citizen, let alone the Hand of Noxus. No matter what happens during your trial, consider yourself officially banned and exiled from Noxus, no longer holding a citizenship, every privilege ever granted to you now revoked." Swain lifted his chin a bit, looking down at Riven. "I will confess I considered making you face Darius as your opponent for your Fleshing-trial."

Riven felt the Might of Noxus flinch next to her.

"But I know his history as your protégé will make him biased and he won't strike truly, not on purpose but instinctually, not being able to control it." Swain's eyes narrowed, "So you will face ten duels instead, which will grow in difficulty as you defeat your foes. If you win all ten rounds, you will be judged as innocent and Noxus will allow you to leave peacefully. If you lose…" He lifted an eyebrow. "I doubt you need me to tell you what losing means."

Because to lose in the Fleshing meant to die; there was no other way around it.

"Is there something you'd wish to say before we get started?"

Riven's eyes were on Swain's, a challenge in her pupils. "I have a question for you." When Swain nodded his head once, she continued, "Will you honor the promise you've made, even if I lose my trial?"

_If I die, will you harm Irelia or will she still be protected?_

Swain knew that was her real question.

There was the ghost of a smile on his lips. "I'm a man of honor."

And Riven could tell what his answer meant.

_She will be free to go._

That was all Riven needed, if she was honest.

"Then there's nothing else to be said, Grand General."

"Very well, then," Swain said, "Might of Noxus, leave the prisoner alone, for there's _blood for Noxus _and her opponents know it."

As the crowds went wild at Swain's words, Darius nodded his head, before slowly walking away, towards the still open gate.

"You could wish me luck."

Darius stopped for a brief second, his back to Riven as he huffed a laugh. "You don't need it."

And despite the situation she was in, she couldn't help but smile at his retreating shape.

When Darius finally walked out, the gate that he walked through closing behind him, Swain spoke again. "Let her first opponent enter the Arena!"

Riven immediately turned, looking at one of the entrances that stood around her on the walls, slowly opening itself.

A heavily armored, bulky man walked out of it, a trident on one of his hands, a net on the other.

She blankly stared at the gladiator as he moved towards her, weapon at the ready.

She unsheathed her own blade.

* * *

Irelia's hands moved to the railing and gripped it hard as she watched Riven dodge the first attack.

The man was _vicious, _unlike anything Irelia had ever seen before; this was not the way Ionian people fought, not even how _Noxians _fought.

This was how someone who had nothing left to lose fought.

Erratically brutal, desperately feral, with reckless abandon and hunger for survival.

She remembered hearing somewhere that the Fleshing's gladiators were _prisoners, _war criminals that Noxus used for entertainment.

She wondered if Swain had offered freedom to these prisoners if they managed to kill Riven.

And judging by the way this man moved, he had offered freedom and then some.

_Glory?_

Did she care, though? She just wanted to see Riven come out on top, victorious.

_Alive._

So let the Gods forgive her lack of morals at the moment, but all Irelia wanted was to see him _die._

The battle carried on with the gladiator attacking relentlessly, Riven dodging time after time, unable to approach him and get close enough to strike back for he was too unpredictable, too dangerous.

And with that net on his hand…

Darius entered their small balcony and took a seat, his eyes nervously on Riven's moving figure and Irelia felt the need to sit down next to him, his unease bringing a certain, ironic comfort to her.

It helped a lot, knowing she was not alone in this.

Her hand moved back to that Lunari charm around her neck.

Swain took a seat next to her, the Ionian flanked by the two Noxian men.

She gazed at him out of the corner of her eye.

The Grand General was narrowing his eyes at Riven, as if he were studying her.

The crowd went wild and Irelia looked at the Arena again only to see the gladiator's net on Riven, tangling itself on her legs and making her fall.

The gladiator, a few feet away from Riven, took aim with his trident.

Riven moved her blade towards her legs, working to cut the ropes that trapped her.

The gladiator threw his spear.

At the very last moment, Riven released herself and rolled to a side, barely missing the trident as it scratched against her armored calf, the greave protecting her from real harm.

Riven quickly got on her feet and leapt to the man, blade at the ready.

The crowd went wild with either excitement or anger, Irelia didn't know.

All she knew was what she could see; Riven's blade, embedded on the man's torso, its' end sticking out of his back, before she pulled it out of him and watched him fall.

Dead.

She had won her first duel.

Not too long passed before another gate opened, two gladiators coming out of it; one wielding a broadsword, the other wielding a mace and a shield.

Irelia watched as the horrific show carried on, both flanking Riven, who quickly dashed away and unleashed some of her runic power, stunning both men.

The attempt wasn't strong enough, both enemies evading her attacks and moving away, ready to resume the battle.

"What a cursed object." She turned to look at Swain as he spoke, watching him sneer at Riven's figure. "What kind of blade even is that?"

"That's the blade Darkwill gifted her when she became his Hand." Darius commented, "He had ordered his personal magical blacksmiths to forge her that runic broadsword."

"It looks nothing like a broadsword."

"Because she broke it," Irelia interrupted, earning curious looks from both Swain and Darius, "She shattered the blade with her own, bare hands."

She didn't like the way Swain frowned, humming in thought, before looking at Riven once more.

"She shattered the blade, you say?"

"I _know," _Irelia confirmed, "She told me so."

Swain nodded, lost in his mind.

"What is it about it that has you so concerned?" Irelia pushed.

And Swain looked right through her. "Since when does an Ionian care so much about her former enemy, Captain Lito?"

Irelia did not really know how to answer that.

_Since I saw her that night?_

_Since I saw her in Ionia, with Diana by her side?_

_Since she came back, taking me up on my offer?_

_Since she opened up to me?_

_Since I opened up to her?_

She knew she liked Riven.

She didn't know when that happened.

"I cannot tell," She confessed, considering it would be more sensible than the alternative, being honest with a man who could learn your deepest secrets, "I guess she's crept up on me."

Swain smiled at her, a knowing look in his eye. "Apparently so."

Riven hurried to dodge her opponents bold attempts, quickly striking straight and true, bringing down her foes with enough effort that she was breathing heavy, sweat slowly sliding down her forehead.

The second duel had been won

Riven was not exhausted yet, but Irelia knew Riven would reach her end soon, if her battles extended for too long.

She needed to be faster.

Three opponents came out of another gate, two men and woman; one of the men wielded a war axe on each hand, the other one had a quiver filled with arrows strapped to his back and a long bow on his hand and then the woman—

Riven barely had time to dodge a fireball as it flew through the air towards her head.

The woman was a pyromancer.

Riven already felt far more stressed than acceptable, already.

Still, she would fight for her life.

"She's fighting for _you." _Irelia heard Swain comment, amused. "Are you aware of it?"

She looked at Swain, "I—"

"You _could say _she has her own selfish reasons to fight and try to survive, too, but it doesn't take a genius to see that she's more interested in _your _well being than hers."

And this was all something she didn't need to know.

It just gave her too much to read into, too much to think, too much to talk with the Noxian woman.

She opted for going back to her previous topic of conversation, instead. "Will you tell me what you saw in that blade of hers that makes you so wary of it or not?"

Swain looked at her with slightly wide eyes, surprised at how annoyed she sounded, even if there was no direct hostility behind it.

"Runes are a kind of power that demands respect, an understanding of their nature, _knowledge." _Swain replied, "They're dangerous and can be deadly for their user, specially if they don't know how to use them." His eyes moved to Riven, "She knows how to wield them, but she certainly did not respect them when she shattered her blade and ignored how runes work. You see, if you wish to vanish a rune's power, you must erase the symbol completely." He squinted, "And I can tell she didn't destroy the symbols entirely, only snapping them in half."

"And what does that do? What's the difference between destroying them and only breaking them?"

"Runic magic needs a vessel to function," Swain looked at her. "If the vessel is broken, they latch onto their user and use them, just like they use the runes' magic." He raised a brow, "But it's not _mutualism,_ it's a parasitic bond; the runes slowly nibble at your mind until you lose every thread of sanity you've got left and the victim is held hostage of their addiction to the maddening power, so they don't fight it.." He looked at Riven. "It's a miracle she's still stable, to some degree, but only watching her will let us know to which extent the runes have bled through her skin."

Irelia let out a shaky breath.

Knowing exactly what she wanted to ask, Swain huffed a laugh, "If she lives, Captain, I advise you finish destroying her sword." His eyes darted towards Irelia, "The process will not be pretty, but she'll progressively detoxify herself, with her sword gone."

She wondered what he meant with _the process will not be pretty._

She decided not to ask him.

They watched Riven as she grabbed the warrior with the axes by the neck and used him as a shield, the archer's arrows landing on his chest.

As he fell dead to the ground, she ran towards the archer, using her blade to deflect his arrows.

The pyromancer was giving her a hard time coordinating, though.

She kept moving, knowing she had to get rid of one of them, at least—

She screamed when a fireball caught her leg, making her fall to the ground.

But Riven did not give up.

Using the distraction for her advantage, she rolled forwards during her fall, her blade still on her hand and, as she landed on her feet once more, she lunged for the archer, slashing at him.

Her blade split him in two, easily.

She turned to the mage—

The pyromancer's hands threw flames at her, the fiery attack being seemingly endless as seconds stretched and Riven's image was lost in a cloud of fire and smoke.

She stopped for a second and watched her opponent, seeing if the former Hand of Noxus was still alive.

As the cloud dissipated, she saw Riven running towards her, her runic shield just then dying out.

The mage's whole body lit up on a fire—

Riven tried to stop her advance as she saw the fiery woman shine bright, like she was about to—

An explosion boomed throughout the Arena and everyone went silent.

Irelia ran from her seat to the edge of the balcony.

She watched as smoke and debris moved around the atmosphere, desperation in her pupils as they frantically searched through the dark cloud.

Seconds stretched.

Irelia heard loud cheering coming from all around them first, before the image became clear.

Riven was still standing, a look of fear in her eyes as she breathed heavily, her chest expanding wildly with every inhale, her skin heated as it had been a bit charred, but she was still alive.

The pyromancer's body laid on the ground, burned beyond recognition.

Irelia felt like crying.

She laughed, instead.

_Is this what the Fleshing makes everyone feel?_

The intoxicating adrenaline was proving efficient on driving her insane.

"Enjoying the show, I see."

Despite the laughter, the nausea, the tears, she glared at Swain. "This is more alike torture."

But a dark part of her couldn't deny the excitement upon seeing her gladiator come out of it victorious.

It felt stimulated by it all.

Irelia moved back to her seat and breathed deeply, watching as four other gladiators came out, Riven turning to face them.

And duel after duel, the Fleshing moved on throughout the night.

Duel after duel, Riven's opponents grew in number.

Duel after duel, the fighting became harder and harder.

Defeating them hadn't been easy before, but it only became more difficult with each second that passed.

_Ten duels, _Irelia constantly thought, _she only has to win ten duels._

And she had seen Riven climb up to the ninth.

She could see how bruised and battered the former Noxian was, wrecked and exhausted, her _very soul _being tired, her clothing and skin being decorated with blood both hers and of her enemies, sweat mixing with it, cuts and wounds redecorating her already scarred skin.

But she could also see the fire in her eyes.

She knew she was close to winning her ticket out of Noxus, relatively unscathed.

A sea of bodies, both human and not, all around her.

Irelia still couldn't believe Riven had managed to kill a minotaur, a griffin, a chimera, creatures she hadn't seen in a long time or not even at all.

All in the same match.

They had made her pay the price, though: Riven looked like she was about to pass out, exertion written all over her.

The gates opened for her ninth duel to begin.

Eight soldiers with swords, one man dressed on a black robe, no weapon on sight.

It looked _too easy, _in comparison to everything she had just endured.

The fighting started and Riven swiftly brought down four of the eight soldiers, the remaining ones standing around the man on the robe, as if protecting her.

She narrowed her eyes.

The man was smiling at her.

She felt uneasy, so she lifted her blade, getting ready.

The man lifted his hands slowly—

"Fucking _Hell."_

That had been Darius.

But Irelia felt the same way.

The sea of bodies around Riven slowly started to rise.

Riven's eyes darted all around her, desperation getting a hold of her.

_A fucking necromancer._

There were forty five enemies surrounding her, now.

And Riven was already deadly tired.

She didn't know what the Hell to do.

Irelia was twitching on her seat.

"This is not fair," She let out between clenched teeth, "That's all of her previous foes at once, not the _nine _of this round."

"It actually _is _fair," Swain said, "You see, in the Fleshing, mages are allowed to wield their magic. That man over there is just wielding his magic like Riven wields her sword."

And Irelia _knew _he was right, but it was worth the shot.

The bodies stood, nobody moving.

Not even Riven.

Then the necromancer pointed at Riven with one of his slender fingers.

All of the creatures and humans surrounding her turned to look at her.

"Kill her."

Riven started running as soon as he said that, the dead who surrounded her immediately trying to catch her.

She ran away from the minotaur that charged at her, her eyes on the creature as she ran away—

She stopped dead on her tracks when she realized she had been running towards the pyromancer from the third round—

Irelia's hands gripped the armrests with all of her strength, her teeth gritting as she saw Riven scream in pain, the pyromancer having set her ablaze.

Riven beheaded the dead woman.

And she knew she shouldn't have frozen, she knew she shouldn't have waited to see what would happen, but she did.

She waited to see if the woman would fall.

The body still stood.

And in her stupidity, she set herself up.

The beheaded pyromancer grabbed her by the wrists and Riven tried to pull away and release herself from her grip, but more and more hands started to claw at her as the bodies that stood all around her got closer and closer, gripping her wherever they could, pulling and squeezing and resisting their attempts to fight them off.

Irelia watched with desperation as Riven screamed, mostly out of frustration, but a note of fear had been evident in her voice.

She didn´t know when she had moved over to the railing, she didn't know when she started leaning over it, all the Ionian was aware of being how she couldn't hear Riven's voice anymore, how she couldn't see her underneath the sea of bodies that covered her.

"_Riven!" _Irelia screamed desperately, fear choking her up.

She saw the undead moving over where Riven had been, like a pack of vultures feasting over a dead body.

It made her lose her mind.

Her eyes widened.

_Lose her mind._

Riven seemed to be out of her mind whenever that monstrous power took over.

What could she possibly lose, by testing her theory out?

"Just fucking go _berserk, _Riven_!" _She screamed, the fear and anguish translating into fury on her tongue. "Whatever it takes, just fucking _survive!"_

So focused in the scene underneath her, she was completely unaware of how Swain and Darius looked at her, amusement and surprise on their expressions.

They had no clue of what Irelia was trying to do.

"Come on, _bastard!" _She kept screaming, "You think you're so intimidating and so scary but you can't even get to the last round_? _You're _pathetic! _Fucking _useless scum!"_

The whole Arena was quiet.

Even the necromancer was looking at her.

"Maybe you didn't deserve my forgiveness."

She hadn't roared that like she had said everything else.

For her, it had sounded louder, though.

She saw the monsters still tear at her.

She didn't move her eyes from the scene.

She was hoping, she was waiting to see _something, _she was clinging to what remained of her hope—

A shockwave of green energy sent creatures flying all over the Arena.

Even Swain got up from his chair. "What in the _Hell?"_

Riven was standing.

Her blade was—

"How in _oblivion—" _Darius cut himself short.

Because they were all rather confused.

How in _oblivion _was it possible for her blade to be whole once more?

Irelia couldn't help but be in awe at how, despite her body being broken, despite the blood that poured out of each of her wounds and bathed her in crimson, she was _still standing._

Her eyes moved to Swain and she saw the shock that contorted his expression, so she dared ask, "Do you see it?" And when his eyes moved to her, "I'm not magical but you clearly are, so _do you see it?"_

Swain's gaping mouth closed, before he shook his head once. "Brace yourself when you destroy her blade, my dear. She will give you a _Hell _of a time."

Irelia nodded her head once, before looking back at the scene underneath her.

Riven's hair standing on end, her broadsword being held only by one hand, she moved like a deadly whirlwind, dealing blows to each of the creatures that stood around her.

She hit them time after time, but they still remained on their feet.

Seconds passed and Irelia knew she was going to get drained eventually.

Irelia tried to think, tried to come up with a way how Riven could win, searching her mind for everything she knew about magic wielders and necromancers, knowing she _did know _a bit more than the Noxian—

"_Kill the necromancer!" _She screamed at Riven, the thought suddenly hitting her, "_Kill him and they all die!"_

Riven had heard her, if the way she stared at her from the Arena meant anything.

When Riven turned and looked at the necromancer—

Every single creature in the Arena hurtled themselves at her, attacking ferociously.

Riven slashed her way through them, moving steadily towards the necromancer, screaming at the blade of an undead that pierced her arm, but not caring about the pain as she still gripped her own sword.

The chimera came to stood in front of her—

Riven charged and, letting out a wave of energy coming out of her blade, she split the creature in two and made her way through the cut.

She kept approaching the necromancer, only the soldiers between her and him—

She killed the four of them in four slashes, hissing as a spear reached her thigh, leaving a gaping wound behind.

And when it was only the necromancer, the man brought his hands up, ready to conjure something up—

Riven lunged forwards and the tip of her blade dug deep into the man's body.

But Riven was not satisfied.

She pushed her blade through and then up, raising the man's body with the movement, watching as he hung helplessly from her blade, his eyes widening as he felt his lifeforce flying away from his body.

His very soul, running away.

Well, that was what everyone usually thought, though.

For Riven, it didn't run away; one's soul would shrink, until it lost control of the body it owned.

So she watched the necromancer lose control.

And when he finally went limp, every creature around her fell to the ground, dead once more.

She let the man fall from her blade, too.

And the moment his body hit the floor, everyone lost their minds in loud roars of cheering.

Silently, Riven walked towards the center of the Arena, her eyes on Swain.

She stood there, unmoving, but Irelia could see it: written all over her stance, the way she gripped her sword, the way her breathing was exaggerated and erratic.

She was done, standing there out of pure instinct, the desire to prove she could still fight, even if she knew it was a lie.

And she still had ten more warriors to fight.

Swain was staring at her.

Everyone was staring at her.

The gates opened.

Riven didn't turn to look at her opponents; she remained still.

Irelia frowned when she only saw one man coming out.

"Only one?" Irelia asked, then looked at Darius curiously when she heard him groan. "What's the matter?"

"That's—"

The crowds went wild at this man's presence.

They screamed a name, but the sound was so loud she couldn't quite hear it.

And then the man said, "Not Draven, _Draaaaven." _He stretched the first vowel of his name, slicking his hair down with his hand.

Irelia saw even _Riven _groan, smacking her forehead with her hand.

_She knows that guy?_

She looked at Darius as he finished his sentence, "—My brother."

Riven finally turned to look at Draven, watching him wave at the public, before getting a grip on each of his spinning axes, a cocky smile on his face. "Do you know how long I've _dreamed _of this?"

"Of dying to me?"

Draven laughed, apparently unfazed by her jab, "Of having a chance at fighting _the Hand of Noxus, _at _executing her._" He started spinning one of his axes, "Imagine how much _praise _that will earn me."

"You're an attention whore, Draven." Riven said, nodding her head. "I get it, we get it, we all have always known it."

"And I'll get all the attention I want when I'm done with you."

She barely had time to dodge the axe that was thrown at her face.

She looked up again—

She screamed when the other axe caught her arm, the sharpness of it leaving a gaping wound on her already wounded arm, the piercing attack from the previous round having left a clean through-and-through wound on her bicep

Her blade fell to the ground, suddenly shattered once more, the pieces that had completed it before vanishing into the air.

Irelia couldn't help the quiet _No, _that escaped her lips as she shook her head and stared.

Draven's blades were back on his hands and he deftly spinned them, watching Riven from his spot far from her, the woman still on the center of the Arena, a hand gripping her wounded arm with the strength that remained in her.

He threw both blades at her, the weapons flying low and parallel to the ground—

Riven tried to jump and avoid the hit, but one of her legs got caught by the blade, the greave protecting her from anything too dangerous, but the hit being enough to make her fall to the ground, the former Noxian barely managing to get on her knees as she watched Draven's axes go back to his hands once more.

She couldn't stand up, couldn't move anymore.

She stared at Draven for a second before looking at Irelia on the balcony.

Irelia saw Riven smile, before mouthing _Sorry._

She shook her head, "_No."_

Not being able to take Irelia's expression, she looked up at the sky, her eyes glued to the Eclipse above her head.

_When did you do that, Diana?_

_Nice for the occasion._

She looked at Draven again, the man's blades at the ready as he brought his arms back, the Glorious Executioner winding up his last attack.

He threw them at her and Riven saw how they dragged across the ground, coming for her like demons from Hell, ready to drag her down and make her drown in the dirt.

Riven shut her eyes closed, bracing for the impact.

The sound of them cutting through earth and dead bodies got louder and louder and she flinched as she waited for them to reach her.

She heard a crashing noise, but she never felt anything.

Dead silence all around her.

Seconds stretched.

She opened her eyes.

There was someone standing right in front of her, her vision of Draven completely blocked by what seemed to be a—

"Are you going to stand up or what?"

Riven's eyes climbed the woman's body, reaching her golden eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Not moving her shield from its position, covering them both from Draven, she offered her other hand to Riven, her blade still sheathed against her side. "Diana told me you needed us, so we came to help."

Riven grabbed Leona's hand and stood, but she could barely remain on her feet. There was a look of confusion on her face, "I never…" Her hand moved towards her neck.

Her brows rose when she realized she didn't have the charm on her.

Her eyes moved towards the balcony—

Irelia was looking at the scene, her hand on her neck, realization hitting her just then.

_It was her._

Leona watched as Draven's blades disembedded themselves from her shield and went right back to him. "Is there a way out of this Arena?"

"Not really," Riven explained, "And now that you've interfered in the Fleshing, I doubt they'll let us go anyway."

Leona sighed, "Right."

Draven started spinning his axes once more and, relentlessly, he threw them at the Targonian.

Leona deflected his blows with her shield, "Can you fight, Riven?"

The former Noxian shook her head, leaning against the auburn haired woman, hiding behind her shield as best as she could, making her work a bit easier, "I can barely stand up."

"Okay," Leona said, sounding as calm as ever, "Then we'll just have to resist for a minute or two."

Riven frowned.

_A minute or two?_

Meanwhile, Irelia couldn't believe her eyes.

Leona had intercepted Draven's blades at the very last minute, no effort needed.

And she was _certain _she had been the one who summoned the Chosen of the Sun, her hand still toying with the Lunari charm.

Had the Moon heard her prayers?

Had _Diana _heard her, all this time, every time she prayed?

She gulped at that.

And then she realized; it was _Leona _in the Arena, not _Diana._

And she must have talked to the Chosen of the _Moon_, not the Sun.

She turned—

Swain's magic was gripping her, not letting her move, a serious look in his eye, "What did you do?"

Darius noticed the charm in her hands.

He raised his brows in surprise and he looked like he was about to say something about it, but Swain beat him to it, already seeing the same thing.

"It was _you."_

He looked _pissed._

"Consider your diplomatic immunity _expired."_

He brought his hand up, ready to close it in a fist and choke the life out of her—

Out of _absolutely nowhere, _what looked like a portal opened between Swain and Irelia and the Ionian watched as _Diana _came out of it, blade at the ready and swinging at the Grand General.

The attack broke his concentration and released Irelia, who quickly summoned her blades to prevent Darius from attacking them, his axe already on his hands.

"What the Hell are you doing here?!"

Diana rushed towards Swain, moving past him and landing behind him, before pushing him into the still open portal, watching as he fell into it and the portal closed, the man gone.

"What do you mean _what am I doing here, _you called me!" Diana said, tense.

Irelia's blades moved in formation against Darius and she successfully disarmed him.

"Let's go," Diana commanded, before grabbing Irelia and—

The Ionian couldn't help the scream that escaped her as they fell through a portal and landed in the Arena, both behind Leona's shield.

Riven looked at Diana—

"No time for that," The Empyrean said, a glare in her eyes that seemed to only grow even more heated with every passing second as she quickly inspected Riven's body.

_She was pissed off._

_And if you ever need my help, call my name at any time of day, beg for me and I swear to my Goddesses that I'll be there in the blink of an eye and I'll hunt your enemies down like a demon let loose._

And there she was, in the flesh.

The demon let loose.

Riven lost sight of Diana as the woman rushed away from her.

She moved her eyes towards Draven, only to find him doing his best to fend Diana off, the woman striking viciously.

He met each of her strikes with his axes, trying to move away from her, but the woman proved ferocious as she kept going, anger making her grit her teeth.

"Did you pray while touching the charm?" Riven asked Irelia, her eyes moving from the furious Diana to the confused Irelia.

The Ionian didn't know where to look, "Maybe?"

They heard the gates to the Arena open.

Diana rushed back to her group and watched the scene around her with them.

The Noxian Army surrounded them.

Darius up at the front.

"Where did you throw Swain to, Diana?" Irelia asked the woman, her blades floating around her.

"Not too far away," Diana said, "And I didn't do it."

"If you didn't do it, then…?"

The Army took a step forwards.

They were waiting for Darius.

"We can't fight them off, Diana." Leona said, her back to the Chosen of the Moon. "There's too many of them."

Diana exhaled loudly, "I know."

"Do you think she'll be here before they charge?"

"She'd better," Diana's eyes narrowed, "Or else she's—"

Darius started running towards them.

The whole group of people around them did, too.

They saw them coming for them, getting closer and closer—

Riven felt like she was about to pass out, the adrenaline pushing her into an overdrive of sorts, "_Diana—"_

She screamed like Irelia had done as they felt like they were falling, the scenery right in front of them changing again.

Riven realized they were in Noxus' outskirts.

"What the Hell—"

Riven went mute as she saw Darius was there with them too, apparently haven't jumped through the portal with them before it closed, the Noxian already swinging—

Leona's shield came up and his axe bounced off her as she bashed the golden piece against his weapon.

Riven watched as Darius fought against the Chosen, Diana coming to help her, but the man proving to be lethal enough, being able to fight them both off, struggling but still managing to stand, Irelia surrounding him with her blades, so as to forbid him from escaping—

A strike of golden magic hit him in the face and he took a few steps back to look at—

"A kid?" He questioned, before glaring at her, hearing Diana and Leona _groan._

"_Zoe!"_

The unison was uncanny.

"We told you to stand _back!"_

Darius brought his axe up, uncaring about who stood in front of him, ready to attack her, use her to manipulate his enemies somehow—

The girl fell through a portal that opened underneath her.

Darius turned around—

He saw her reappear behind Riven.

The former Hand of Noxus was still standing, her blade on her hands as she had picked it up.

Ready to fight until she died.

Darius stared at her.

Slowly, he felt his resolve just…

He sighed, sheathing his axe.

"Let your next stop be Zaun, my Captain." He said to her, uncaring of the others around them, the way they didn't know what to do with themselves, for their opponent seemed to wish to fight no longer. "You might find him there."

_Cyrus._

Irelia realized this was what he was not willing to say to her.

Riven moved towards the bouldering man, "I always knew you'd be better than me, Darius."

"Do me a favor and never come back." He said, his voice uncannily soft. "This is clearly not your home anymore."

And there was no malice behind his voice, no taunt hidden in his words.

He was just being honest.

Noxus was no longer Riven's home.

"Riven," She heard Diana say, seeing out of the corner of her eye how a portal opened behind them all. "Time to go."

"I hope you bring glory to your nation." She said.

"And I wish you find what you're looking for."

It had been genuine.

Without another word, she walked away, Irelia approaching her so as to help her move, the Ionian glancing at Darius and giving him a small nod of her head.

He nodded back, watching as they all disappeared through the girl's portal.

Gone.

So he turned around and walked back towards his city, already knowing the lie he'd tell Swain.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Insane ride amirite? That was long as FUCK to write.

Thoughts? Leave em below for me to read!

Love y'all.


	19. Touchy Topics

The portal led them to a bushy forest, some place so particularly plain and generic that they could be literally anywhere in Runeterra, the darkness of the night hiding anything that could help them pinpoint where they were.

As the gate through space closed behind them, Riven's body gave up, supported only by Irelia's grip on her, the former Noxian's head hanging almost limply.

Diana rushed towards them and helped the Ionian with getting Riven on the ground, her back against the nearest tree.

The Targonian lifted the girl's head with her hand, being greeted by tired, red eyes.

"Hey, Diana." She smiled, "You came."

There was alarm in her silver eyes, "I promised you I would, didn't I?" She responded absentmindedly, watching Riven mumble a small _You did, _before going limp again.

Fear and concern controlled her as she scanned the woman's whole figure with her sight; deep gashes on her thigh, a _hole _on her bicep, another deep cut on her arm, burned skin all over…

"I need help," Diana let out in a quick breath, hearing the quick steps of Leona as she approached, the fear that gripped her heart making her hands tremble as she placed them on the cuts and summoned the Moon's will, hoping to heal her friend.

Leona inspected her wounds and realized that Diana's magic alone wouldn't be enough to fix the mess but what could they possibly do, her own magic being weaker under the Moon? "She'll bleed out if we don't—"

As if suddenly snapping out of a trance, Irelia quickly intervened, pushing both Aspects aside, producing a small vial containing some clear liquid out of her pocket. "Take care of the wound on her arm," She commanded, knowing Diana's magic could maybe fix that one issue, "I'll handle the rest."

The Aspects didn't question her as they pressed their hands on Irelia's arm, a third pair of hands joining them as the little girl who accompanied them approached them and helped, too.

Their hands glowing as they worked, Irelia ignored them as she rubbed the thick liquid against Riven's cuts, her eyes going from the woman's wounded thigh to her eyes, as if waiting to see her look back at her.

She had to fight the fear that choked her whenever she saw Riven was not responding.

_She just passed out._

_You already knew she's a weakling._

So she ignored it all and kept working on her.

The minutes slowly stretched, a group of medics working on a dying patient, but eventually Irelia saw the gaps on Riven's skin close up, the bleeding subsiding under her persistence.

Irelia let out a long exhale, a sigh of relief that released the chokehold that gripped her throat, her eyes moving then to the three people to her side as they inspected Riven's arm, her skin marred where the hole had been, but no blood coming out of it.

"What did you do to her?"

Irelia's eyes moved towards Leona's. "I used a magical balm a healer from Ionia made for me." She explained, "It closes up wounds almost immediately, but it doesn't cure her from anything; she'll be in some awful pain when she wakes up."

"But she won't be dying due to blood loss," Diana reasoned, "So she'll be alright."

Irelia sat back, finally breathing freely. "She'll be alright."

Her eyes closed as she let the relief she felt wash over her, Irelia didn't see the way the little girl looked at her curiously, Diana and Leona eyeing her as she did so.

Feeling the burning stare, she looked at her stalker, a frown on her face as she said, "Are you two mothers, now?"

The kid started complaining, loudly yelling _She's not my mother! Sun one isn't either!_

And she had to fight the surprise she felt at seeing Diana _groan. _"There she goes again." She raised a brow at Irelia, "I hope you're happy with what you've just done."

"What have I done?"

Diana watched the girl as she stomped her feet on the ground, both Leona and her to each side of the childish one. "You got her upset." She placed her hands on smaller shoulders, "Zoe," She started, a stern tone on her voice. "She was just teasing me, let my friend be."

"I don't _care!" Zoe _yelled, crossing her arms in front of her. "I told you guys you could be my big _sisters, _but I _refuse _to have parents." She shrugged, "Been there, done that, no fun."

Diana groaned, her palm hitting her face, while Leona clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "Now, missus, that's no way to talk to your moms."

And Zoe looked ready to throw a tantrum—

Her yelling was instantly muffled by Leona's clothing as she forcefully hugged Zoe, the kid's head trapped on the warrior's arm as she got up from the ground and used her free hand to grind her knuckles against the top of her head.

"_My daughter! My silly daughter! My poor little daughter! Stuck with me forever!" _She chanted, not allowing the girl to escape her grip as she pestered her endlessly.

"Leona," Diana started, looking at the situation in front of her, feeling _defeated. "_I hope you understand that I'm not dealing with her later." She pointed at her, "_You _make this mess, _you _fix it, later."

Leona winked at her as the only response.

"Where did…" Irelia trailed off, still sitting by the fainted Riven, "Where did that kid come from?"

"She was part of the Lunari, when the Solari and the Lunari were a thing." Diana started explaining, her eyes still on the two fighting Targonians as they moved a bit away from them in their small war, "A very long time ago, she was Chosen by the Twilight to be her Aspect in this world. She accepted the offer and she's been gone through time and space ever since." She sighed, "She came back a few moons ago, hoping to find everything as she had left it, but came to realize things were, once again, different."

Irelia was staring at the kid as if she had three heads, "She's _older than you, _then."

Diana was _grimacing. "_In a sense, she is, but in another, she's still just a child."

"Where has she been gone to?"

Diana eyed Irelia for a second, "Her job as the Aspect of Twilight is not like the one Leona and I share, as Chosens of the Sun and Moon. Twilight is a fleeting warning of future change, so Zoe is a messenger. She brings news, both good and bad, of events that will happen in the future and might reshape destiny. She's been gone, travelling from a world to another, fullfilling her job."

"For how long—"

"We don't know, but let's say centuries. Millenia. Whatever suits you."

Irelia blinked twice, really hard.

Diana, nearing her thirties, had a _thousand-year-old_ child.

With Leona, also nearing her thirties.

"Guess Twilight _doesn't _really fade, huh."

Diana glared at Irelia at those words, watching the Ionian shrug.

A thought hit her, then.

"It wasn't Riven's voice the one I heard praying. It was yours."

It made Irelia suddenly sit up in attention.

She looked at Diana, only to find her already staring at her.

Silver eyes then fell on the silver coin that hung from the chain that went around her neck.

"What's that doing there?"

Irelia swallowed. "Riven gave it to me."

Diana moved towards her, her eyes going immediately from the Lunari symbol that hung idly from her neck to her icy eyes, "Why?" She asked, a furrowed brow on her face.

"Because I couldn't sleep at night," Irelia confessed, "And she told me you've blessed this charm."

Diana's head lolled to a side.

She hadn't done that.

She hadn't told Riven she had done something like that, either.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at the former Noxian, still out cold.

"You prayed to it." Diana said, instead of anything else. "Had she told you this little charm is a direct link to me or was it just an accident?"

Irelia blushed, "An accident." She confessed, "Truth be told, I didn't know you heard whatever prayers were whispered for the Moon."

"I hear everything my Goddess hears, Irelia," She replied, the hint of a smirk on her lips, mirth and a knowing look making her silver eyes shine bright, "But what's whispered with this charm hanging from your fingers doesn't make it to her; it makes it straight to _me."_

Irelia was blushing, thankful Riven was temporarily out of the picture. "I—"

"I've heard your _every prayer," _Diana said, "Both before and during the Fleshing. Tell me," She raised a brow, "Does Riven know the things you've accidentally told her dearest friend? Or are those confessions still locked inside your heart?"

Neither Leona nor Zoe were making any noise anymore, both intently listening, Zoe snickering at Diana's words, Irelia's blush, the awkward tension the Rakkorian managed to build.

"It must be the first time in your life, Diana, that you're not oblivious to someone else's intentions."

Diana glared at Leona, feeling her face heat up a bit. "Let me be victorious just _this one time, _please."

Zoe laughed at them, "Good one," She said, high-fiving the smirking Leona.

"Thank you."

Diana merely groaned.

"I haven't told her anything she doesn't need to know."

It made Diana look at Irelia. "_She doesn't need to know?" _She questioned, "You thinking of—" She stopped herself as she heard Leona whistle at her, calling her attention, a quiet plea for her to remember her surroundings and the people she was with. "Whatever. Your thoughts are not to be shared with her?"

Irelia shook her head. "And I'd like it to remain that way, if possible."

Diana's eyes were hot on hers, "Praying is a one-way means of communication, don't worry about it. Besides, I'd rather you braved it up and told her yourself."

Irelia took a deep breath. "Maybe sometime."

"Hopefully sometime." Diana said.

And she did not comment on the little white lie that Riven had told her regarding her charm, a thing done clearly to make her rest easier at night.

She didn't comment on how Riven had stopped praying at night around the same time she had started, either.

She already knew why that happened, the former Lunari being able to connect the dots between the events that happened both before and after Riven's departure to Ionia.

_If you must brave it up, she should do the same, too._

"You don't seem to happy that I have this little thing." Irelia's words made Diana eye her up, before smirking, her stance relaxing.

"I was taken aback, but that's all. I understand the motives why she had given it to you and I actually think it was very nice of her."

Irelia raised her brows, surprised.

She had expected Diana to be more…

_Possessive?_

_Jealous?_

And why was she thinking of a jealous Diana?

_Snap out of it._

"Diana," Leona's voice made them both look at her, who was pointing at Zoe.

The girl looked a bit nervous, shifting on her feet, her big eyes moving to Diana's as she said, "I have an icky feeling about the warrior..."

Diana's eyes shot up towards Leona's, looking for an explanation— "Pantheon."

Diana sighed, nodding her head, "Okay, okay." She said, her eyes going back to Zoe's. "What do you feel?" She questioned rather gently.

Zoe shook her head, a frown on her face. "I don't know, but it's..." She searched for a word, but lacked it, settling for a small, "Important."

Diana nodded her head. "Okay," She looked at Leona, "We should head back, see what's going on."

Leona was frowning, "Right."

Diana turned, looking at Irelia, still on the ground, next to Riven. "We must return to Targon." She announced, watching as Irelia nodded her head. "Where will you go?"

"To Zaun." She said, her eyes on the unconscious warrior. "Darius said we should head there."

Diana nodded, "Alright." She said, before she looked at Zoe, thinking. She turned to look at Irelia once more, "Give me a minute."

She stood next to Zoe and disappeared through a portal.

Irelia frowned. "What the—"

She couldn't finish her thought for they reappeared in front of them, a carriage coming out of the portal, too, its' driver looking disoriented as Hell.

"We're in the forests near Noxus, right outside the Empire." Diana explained, pointing in one direction, "If you go straight _that _way," She pointed to the opposite side, "You'll get out of this forest and find the entry to the city of Piltover."

Irelia frowned, "_Piltover_? Isn't there a way to go straight to Zaun?"

Diana shook her head. "To enter Zaun, you must go through Piltover first."

"We've never been there, how do you know this all?"

Diana looked at Leona, "That _you _haven't been there doesn't mean I haven't either."

Leona raised her brows, a silent gasp on her mouth, "_When?!"_

Diana shrugged. "Ask the Moon. I only follow her orders." And before Leona could protest, Diana was looking at Irelia once more, "This man will take you there." She quickly explained, before taking a step towards Irelia, her hands on the Ionian's shoulders, "Use the charm if you need our help."

"Not to be rude, but I hope we don't use it again."

Diana smiled at Irelia's words, "Funny, Riven had said the same thing when I gave it to her." She turned around, walking towards Leona and Zoe, "Maybe you two have way more in common than you think."

"Maybe we do."

Or maybe it was just common sense.

The three of them stood together, Zoe in between the Aspects of the Sun and Moon, "Safe travels, Irelia." Diana said, the three of them disappearing through a portal.

"Safe travels." She mumbled as a response, even if they couldn't hear her.

She looked at the very confused man on the carriage, who stared right back at her, his expression one of fear and awe. "I'm guessing you're my new passenger?"

Irelia nodded her head, "_We _are your passengers," She said, before wrapping her arms around the unconscious Riven and lifting her up, slowly making her way towards the carriage's door.

She saw the man jump off the driver's seat and rush towards her, opening the door for them.

She ignored how she had seen recognition shine in his eyes at the sight of Riven, how he had inhaled sharply at the look of the warrior, injured and unconscious.

She placed Riven on the seat opposite to hers, before going out and picking up her blade.

Irelia wondered for a second whether she should abandon it there or not.

She narrowed her eyes at the weapon.

_No._

_Swain had told me to _destroy it_, not to just _get rid of it.

So she brought it back to the carriage with her, letting it rest next to her as she took a seat and closed the door.

Wordlessly, somewhat aware that the Ionian Captain was not one interested in talking much, the driver commanded the horses to gallop.

Minutes turned into hours and all Irelia could do was stare at the passed out woman in front of her.

The bleeding had successfully stopped, but she knew that all the internal damage was still there, the balm she had used being nothing but a band aid of sorts.

It worried her, to say the least.

It also made the relief she felt at seeing Riven crack one eye open maximize.

She watched the former Noxian as she slowly blinked, looking around in confusion but unable to conjure up alertness, her body under too much pain for her to even try to move, let alone rapidly.

Irelia did notice Riven's shoulders relaxing as red eyes fell on her, though. "Where are we?"

"On our way to Zaun," Irelia replied, "Safe."

Riven nodded her head a bit, "Okay," She said in her croaky voice, sighing as she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index, going through everything that had happened not too long ago in her head, "Where's Diana, Leona...?"

She trailed off because all she could think was the fact that she _had seen a kid _with them.

_Who was that kid? Where did she come from?_

"Back in Targon. Zoe said there was something weird about some man called _Pantheon _and they all left through one of her portals."

She saw Riven _flinch _at that, the curiosity in her eyes gone. "What did Pantheon do?"

Irelia raised a brow, "You know him?"

Riven nodded her head, "Aspect of War." She offered as an explanation. "I know, kind of unexpected to have an _Aspect of War _when all the Aspects you've met thus far were the Sun and the Moon—"

"And the Twilight."

Riven frowned, "Twilight?"

"You mean to tell me you didn't know the little girl that was with them?"

Riven's eyes widened, "That's the _Zoe _you mentioned earlier?"

"You didn't know about her?" She saw Riven shake her head, "Oh, well," She thought about what Diana had told her for a second, "She was a Lunari who got Chosen by the Twilight to be her Aspect. She's been gone for millenia doing her job as a messenger and, when she came back, she realized the Lunari no longer existed."

Riven raised her brows in surprise, her mouth forming a small _Oh. _"Must have been a shocker for her."

Irelia nodded her head, "I can only imagine."

Riven frowned at her, eyes unfocused before she finally said, "So what did Pantheon do?"

Irelia shrugged, "I don't know. Zoe didn't say."

Riven nodded once, "Okay."

A beat.

Then,

"You could have told me this thing pretty much called Diana."

Riven's eyes moved towards the necklace, "I forgot to comment on that tiny detail." She sincerely said, before stating, "You prayed during my Fleshing." She saw Irelia nod her head, "To the Moon?"

Irelia shrugged, "To anyone who was listening, but yeah. The Moon." When she saw how Riven nodded her head in response, she continued, "I didn't expect Leona to suddenly appear in front of you." She raised her brows, "Nor Diana to appear through a portal with a _little girl."_

And despite those wounds that jabbed at her insides, Riven chuckled, "She does have a flair for the unexpected, doesn't she?

Irelia nodded her head, a smirk drawing itself on her lips, "Like she was born for it."

"I wish I had the chance to bid her farewell before she left," Riven confessed as she looked away, shrugging a bit, "It's been too long since we had last seen each other."

And she hadn't meant to sound so hurt about it.

She hadn't expected the Ionian to catch it, either.

Irelia leaned forwards a bit, resting her hand on the other woman's knee, if only to call her attention, "I think she wanted to wait for you to wake up. She looked kind of annoyed at the fact that she had to leave so soon, but it's not like she could push it until later," She was frowning, "I don't know, but Zoe sounded very concerned and I'm guessing neither Leona nor Diana take her opinion lightly."

Riven raised a brow, "She's a kid."

"She looked more like a teenager," Irelia said, raising a brow, "We call her a kid because we're _that _kind of people but she wasn't that young. Besides," She leaned back on her seat, "She's _older _than both Leona and Diana; I _did _tell you she had been travelling around for a millenia, didn't I?"

"You meant that _literally?"_

Irelia nodded, before chuckling at the bewildered look on Riven's face. "Yes, the fountain of youth exists, apparently."

Riven let out a low whistle. "Apparently so, indeed." She frowned, then. "What kind of people are we?"

Irelia smirked, "The insufferable kind."

And Riven tried to laugh, but the pain caught her mirth short.

"Are you okay?"

The Noxian shook her head. "Absolutely everything hurts." She inspected herself for the first time since waking up, frowning at her lack of cuts, "But everything seems fine?"

"On the outside," Irelia said, moving from her seat to Riven's, sitting next to the Noxian, inspecting her with her eyes, prodding a bit where she knew cuts had been. "You're still hurt on the inside."

Riven stared at her, a vacant expression on her face.

Truth be told, she was trying not to laugh at the irony of it all.

It would hurt, after all.

_Life imitates art._

"At least we're not the kind of people both Diana and Leona seem to be."

Irelia raised a brow at that, "Which would be…?"

"The kind who are parents to a child that could be their great-grandparent."

And she couldn't help the smile that landed on her face as she saw Irelia laugh at that.

"I can't believe they're mothers."

"Who even allowed that to happen? Don't they know that they're both hazards to themselves and Runeterra on itself?"

Irelia kept laughing at her words, "Riven!"

"It's the truth! You haven't _lived _with those two." She said, exaggerating her words, "They're children… literally, apparently, if we compare them to their adoptive daughter."

"_Stop!"_

Riven obliged, if only because the pain she felt begged her to remain quiet.

The mirth in those blue eyes made her want to go on, though.

The ease she felt soon subsided as she realized she didn't have her blade by her side. Alertness making her eyes go wide, Riven looked around for a few good seconds before finally seeing it, discarded on the seat opposite to theirs. "You picked up my blade."

She tried not to flinch at the way it made Irelia's mood swing. "I did."

Despite the pain she felt, Riven made a move to grab the sword—

Irelia grabbed her by the wrist, gently, yet stopping her attempt. "I considered leaving it behind," She said, making the former Noxian look at her.

"You did?" A nod of Irelia's head. "What made you change your mind?"

"This blade is _poison _to you," Irelia started, "Anyone with eyes can see it, Riven." She saw the warrior was about to protest, yet she went on, "We need to get rid of it: I didn't leave it behind because Swain told me to _destroy it, _not to abandon it."

It didn't sit well with her. "You're not destroying my blade."

"Oh, but I am."

She was not playing.

At all.

"The broken runes on it rot your mind." Irelia went on, "They do nothing but harm you. We _must—"_

"You're not going to destroy—"

"Why do you even care, anyway?" Irelia questioned, a bothered frown on her face, "You _shattered it _in the first place, might as well finish what you started so long ago."

It was enough to quiet down Riven, the fight in her halting, because it made _sense; _Irelia's words made _sense._

Didn't mean she felt okay with it, though.

She couldn't pinpoint what it was for her common sense, her logic, her very _soul _told her that Irelia was _right._

But there was something far bigger than her, growling at the thought and begging her to say _no._

And she couldn't give a name to it.

A part of her was afraid of giving it a name.

_It's been with me for so long…_

And yet she never addressed it directly.

The creature that brought the voices to her head, the ghosts to her reality.

She sighed, leaning back against the seat, moving away from Irelia. "I'm not okay with this."

Irelia crossed her arms, mimicking what Riven had done. "No one said you had to be," She eyed her from where she was, "But it still has to be done."

And they remained like that, in a dead silence.

For hours.

Not even looking at each other.

Riven was simply pissed off.

Irelia…

Irelia was relieved, to be honest.

She didn't care about the fact that Riven seemed more hellbent on disliking her, at the moment.

She was glad the other woman was _alive._

"You had been right, in the end." She said, making Riven look at her, "About Darius. He really was simply loyal to you."

"Guess those loyalties are now far gone, though." Riven said, looking away once more. "I believe that was the last time he would betray Noxus for me."

Irelia thought about it, "Yeah, but it's probably for the best; this way you're free from Noxus and he's free from his ties to you." And she watched as Riven nodded her head, her brows raised as she found herself agreeing, before adding, "Besides, his last act of loyalty to you meant that he will have to keep a lie up in front of Swain." She saw how Riven's head turned to look at her, "You clearly don't remember Swain implying that nobody knew Cyrus' whereabouts."

Those eyebrows remained up. "I really don't. He did that?"

Irelia nodded her head. "He claimed Cyrus would be dead by now, had Noxus known where he was. Apparently this was false, since Darius knew, told us about it and confirmed that Cyrus is still alive." She raised a brow, "And I bet that, whatever Darius knows, Swain knows it too, so it was a _deliberate _lie."

Riven frowned. "What reason could he possibly have to lie to us?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we should keep it in mind."

Riven grunted in agreement.

Silence reigned once more.

And as the carriage gently rocked with every movement forwards it made, both Riven and Irelia were lulled to sleep, even against their will to remain awake.

* * *

Riven couldn't remember the last time she had been woken up by being thrown around.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been woken up by something other than her own mind.

_No, wait._

_Irelia, on the ship._

No matter the case, she could only be certain of what a hard time she was having, trying to comprehend what was going on as she felt gravity around her shift, her body in the air, before falling abruptly to the ground.

Well, _the ground._

One could hardly call the carriage's wall _the ground._

She quickly realized the small wagon she had been travelling in was sideways, the Noxian currently staring at the seat she had been on, standing right in front of her on its' side, her feet planted on the broken window she had used as a very rough pillow just mere moments ago.

Her body was still too sore, her internal wounds still too much of a mess for her to even attempt to move—

_Where's Irelia._

She looked up, where the other wall of the carriage should be.

The skies greeted her.

Well, _the skies._

Could you really call it _the skies _if it was just a grey cloud of smog, tall buildings clawing at it as if they were desperately searching for fresh air?

The point remained that Irelia was nowhere to be seen.

Standing still was _not _an option.

So Riven picked up her blade and, damning every bone in her body for not healing fast enough, she climbed out of the wrecked vehicle.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Are we enjoying? I surely hope we are.

Lengthier comments, happier writer, yaddah yaddah yaddah!

(Also, would any of you would be interested in me taking writing commissions? Let's discuss.)


	20. Freeze!

The City of Progress must be a sight to behold; skyscrapers that seem able to touch the clouds, steam coming out of machines that appear to be _alive, _cultures from different parts of the world clashing in the most diplomatic of ways, exchanges happening constantly, all the time, everywhere.

Yes. Piltover, the City of Progress, must be a wonderful sight to behold.

Riven could only imagine.

She could only imagine the blue, clear skies as she faced the grey, smoggy ones, the golden buildings as she stared at dark ones, worn by age and pollution, unable to do more than picture the wonderfully intricate machinery that probably roamed the city's streets, a stark contrast to the dangerous-looking pieces of clockwork that lurked around, a difference as big as the one between the cultural exchanges of Piltover and those happening all around her, their mere existence being the definition of dubious nature.

But she wouldn't stop to ask any questions, she wouldn't do anything but focus on the task at hand.

That task being to ensure Irelia's safety, who was being chased by a blue haired girl, a pink machine of sorts on her hands.

The carriage crashed and destroyed, the driver killed and the horses free, Riven willed her body into action, limping her way towards the Ionian, who was currently moving in zig zag, erratically jumping from one place to another, sending blade after blade towards the skinny girl who seemed to be deflecting them somehow as she tried to take aim, Irelia being her target.

"Stay still!" She screamed at Irelia, the sound demonically excited, as if the mere idea of death spurred an ecstasy-induced adrenaline in her, "I'm trying to shoot you, damnit!"

Irelia kept throwing her blades at the girl, who Riven noticed was _shooting them down_, quickly aiming and letting the machine —a weapon, the Noxian noticed —on her hands stop them from coming, projectiles being shot at each of the Ionian's attempts.

The girl had to be a very skilled shooter, she thought, if all it took for her to hit Irelia's blades was only one try for each.

She saw Irelia look at her, the Captain freezing for a second.

It prompted the blue haired girl to turn around, her shockingly long braids whipping around as she did so.

Riven saw pink eyes widen at the sight of her, before the maniatic smile disappeared behind an open mouth, ready to speak, "Oh, does the quick-moving girl have a cripple _girlfriend_?"

Riven looked rightfully _pissed off _at that. "Who do you think you're calling a _cripple?"_

She didn't care about being called Irelia's _girlfriend, _to be fair.

And after a perturbing giggle, she saw the pink eyed girl take aim at her, "Duck."

Riven dashed to a side, barely missing the bullets that came out of the pink gun on the girl's hands.

The girl laughed enthusiastically, "Another runner! Okay, cripple," She smiled viciously, "_Run!"_

Riven didn't look back as she sped her way to Irelia, zig-zagging like she had seen the Captain do before, letting that unnatural adrenaline she usually felt fuel her movements, making her forget about the pain for a second and the projectiles that chased after her.

She reached Irelia as bullets kept raining down on them, Irelia's blades barely managing to fend them off. "What the Hell is going on?!"

"Hell if _I _know!" Irelia roared back, moving her hands, her legs, her _body _in a careful yet quick tempo, willing her blades to protect them, "One moment everything was fine and then that girl destroyed our carriage!"

"Why?!"

"_I don't know!"_

The flurry of blades that protected them from the bullets rendered them unable to see the girl, but when they realized they couldn't hear bullets being shot anymore, Irelia stopped their movement—

—Only to see the girl with a dark blue weapon shaped like a shark aiming at them, its' weight supported by her shoulder.

Riven felt her heart drop in fear, "Shit."

The girl smiled, "Smell you never."

And they watched as the shark's maws lit up with fire, before a humongous rocket came out of it.

Irelia brought her blades up, but Riven knew it wouldn't be enough.

So the former Noxian jumped in front of the Captain and summoned up her runic shield, covering herself behind her broken sword, too.

They shut her eyes closed as the rocket broke through Irelia's barrier, unscathed.

When the rocket came into contact with Riven's shield, it proved to be a force to be reckoned with, as it _pushed through it, _too.

The psychopath's missile exploded as it came into contact with the warrior's dark broadsword, releasing a shockwave that pushed both Riven and Irelia backwards, sending them flying away before they fell to the ground.

Irelia landed forcefully, her head crashing against the concrete, a deafening ringing in her ears as she tried to gather her turning surroundings, her eyes instantly landing on Riven and trying to focus, the Captain frowning as she saw the former Noxian get bigger and bigger.

_No. Closer and closer._

Riven was running towards her, dropping to her knees harshly as she reached her, blood bathing her forehead, "Let's go!" She said quickly, trying to help Irelia to her feet, her eyes looking frantically from the fallen woman to the crazy girl, "Come on!"

She helped Irelia onto her feet and they started running, not daring to look back.

They saw things around them explode as they ran, aimlessly navigating the streets, the blue haired girl launching missiles towards them and always missing narrowly.

Riven tried to ignore her own thoughts, those voices that usually spat poison into her brain telling her this time that this girl was missing on _purpose, _toying with them and finding amusement on the unnecessary destruction.

And for the first time in forever, she had to admit she was agreeing with them.

They ran and ran, aware of how they were being chased by the psychopath, taking turn after turn, pushing passersby aside and objects behind them, hoping to stop the killer from catching them, having even taken to the smaller alleyways.

But the girl was ravenous for them, as if she had just smelled their blood on the water, her chase not being slowed down by the obstacles that the fleeing women created for her, the challenge being happily accepted by her.

They ran through one final alley and ended up hitting a very crowded street that seemed to be home to a rather busy market.

"This way," Riven said, not allowing them to stop, running through the market as they could, ignoring the chitchat and the people who surrounded them.

The scenery around them seemed to slowly shift, the dark hues of rotten buildings blending into a more golden scenario, brighter than the smoggy obscurity of before as they moved through it, running for dear life as they heard the screams of people all around them, running for their lives in fear of the blue haired demon that chased after them.

They managed to get out of the market and into some cleaner streets, explosions still roaring all around them, so they kept running.

And that's when they start hearing a siren, from afar.

Riven had had enough, already, "_What else!?" _She screamed, annoyed already, completely unaware of whatever the sound she heard meant.

Then they heard a booming voice, apparently magnified by a machine since it sounded so unnatural, so inhuman yet so much like a replica of something as mundane as that as it said, "_Freeze! Don't move!"_

As if on queue, the sound of a mechanical roar came to life from behind them, approaching them, before they heard the maniac's voice as she said in a singsong voice, "See you later, girlfriends! Say hi to Hat Lady for me!"

So Riven and Irelia watched as the blue haired psychopath _flew away, _riding her blue rocket launcher to do so.

But the siren kept roaring.

So Riven kept pushing, kept trying to run away, getting once more into alleyways as the sirens sounded louder and louder.

They stopped moving as they hit a dead end.

Then Riven heard Irelia let out a painful scream.

She turned and looked at the Ionian, only to see her foot, caught on what looked like a trap, the device's claws digging into her ankle.

The Captain leaned against the wall that prevented them from running further, her hands digging into the metallic fangs, trying to open them up. "I'll be fine," She announced.

And once they did, they saw one of the walls that surrounded them suddenly give in, some feet away, as if something had easily charged through it.

Someone.

Debris moved away and they saw a pink, short-haired woman with humongous mechanical gauntlets turning to look at them, goggles on her eyes preventing dust from getting into them.

Riven pulled out her sword and stepped forwards, ready to fight her while Irelia tried to release herself.

And that was when Irelia noticed it.

The dents on its' cutting edge, missing pieces, the cracks on the darker part of the black blade.

Had it all been there, before?

She was certain it hadn't.

Her brows rose.

_The explosion cracked it._

"Why do you punks always feel the need to _run?" _The confident voice of the brawler echoed around them. "It's fine though," She smirked, "I like the hard way better."

And then Irelia saw those gauntlets light up, a revving sound coming from them.

She had an idea, but she needed more proof of it being possible.

Riven remained quiet, no response for the fighter in front of her as she got her sword ready.

The pink haired woman charged towards her.

Riven dashed to a side, dodging the attack but barely managing to do so, the exhaustion of her pain making her awfully slower.

The brawler stopped her charge as soon as she failed and turned, throwing a jab and a cross at Riven, who blocked them with her sword, the boxer being far too fast with her hands for her to dodge.

And Irelia saw it again.

The cracks on the blade were getting longer with each blow the woman received.

Her theory confirmed.

The pink haired woman kept throwing punches, cornering Riven against a wall.

Her gauntlets glowed in a blue light, steam coming off them as she prepared to strike Riven with both fists at once.

The warrior saw it coming and summoned up her runic shield, weakened by her exhaustion, but still present.

The strike of the brawler's gauntlets against her shield pushed her backwards, buying Riven space to move around.

It seemed to only rile the fighter up, a smirk on her lips as she stood straight, "I'll show you." She said, the only warning she gave before she pointed at Riven and quickly ran towards her.

Knowing those gauntlets could destroy her every bone if they touched her, Riven hid behind her sword and braced for impact, already too tired to move aside.

Despite the pugilist's hands coming into contact with the blade and not Riven's body, the uppercut she received was forceful enough that she was knocked high in the air, her breath being knocked out of her lungs at the impact.

Her blade cracking beyond repair.

As the brawler chased after her, jumping high in the air with her, she got ready for a final strike, her hands up above her head, ready to come down on Riven's head.

Riven could only stare, her blade on her hands, but not coming to work as a shield again, the former Noxian aware of how close to breaking it was.

Irelia saw her opportunity.

Before the pink haired woman could finish her attack, she rushed her blades towards them.

With a flick of her arms, she willed them to press their flat side against Riven's arm.

And they pushed it.

Riven's eyebrows rose in surprise at the contact, a silent gasp on her throat as she watched her dark blade suddenly appear in front of her, between her and the brawler.

And then those gauntlets came down on her, their mechanical power at top notch.

And as Riven's blade shattered into millions of fragments, the runic power the blade contained was released, the shockwave pushing Riven against the wall Irelia was leaning against, the former Noxian hitting her head against it before falling and landing on the ground with a dry thud, unconscious.

The pink haired woman prowled her way towards them, hands up and ready—

Irelia summoned her blades back to her and allowed them to strap themselves to her back as she raised her hands in surrender.

The fighter dropped into a crouching position if front of her, a smirk on her lips as she carefully used two of those oversized fingers to move her goggles away, allowing Irelia to see her eyes, the tattoo on her left cheek. Violet eyes studying blue ones, she said, "I'm glad to see you _do _understand what _don't move _means."

And behind the crouching pugilist, Irelia saw a woman with eyes as cold as hers staring at her.

A deadly looking weapon, much like the psychopath's in nature yet at the same time very different on style resting on her delicate-looking hands.

A top hat on her head, long, dark blue-ish hair falling gracefully on her shoulders.

"I'm guessing you're the _Hat Lady?"_

She pulled two pairs of handcuffs from her belt and handed them to the pink haired woman, "Unnecessarily brutish, Vi, but a good job anyways. Cuff them both."

_Vi, _Irelia presumed, since both the _Hat Lady _and the tattoo on her face identified her as that, had a victorious look to her vibrant eyes, "Right away." She said, bringing Irelia's hands behind the Ionian's back in a rather uncannily gentle manner, considering the gauntlets she wore, before the Captain of the Ionian Guard could hear the faint _click _of the cuffs locking her wrists in place.

She saw the woman with the top hat click a button on her gun and the trap that hurt her ankle automatically released her, "You're coming with us." She announced to Irelia, her voice laced with a thick, posh accent very unlike the psychopath's or Vi's, "And don't you even think of running away."

Irelia shakily got up on her feet, but remained still, "Wasn't planning on it."

The light-blue eyed woman offered a polite smirk. "Good." She turned, "Follow me."

Irelia obliged, looking back at Riven as Vi cuffed her and picked her up, placing her on her shoulder and walking behind them.

Her eyes then scanned the alleyway as they left it.

Black crystals decorated it.

_Mission accomplished, Swain._

"We'll stop by the hospital, the unconscious one needs medical attention," That rich voice and posh accent said once more, Irelia seeing Vi nod her head once as she got the message.

They reached what Irelia judged that looked like a vehicle and the top hat woman opened the door, before softly —though forcefully, at the same time— pushing her in, letting Vi place Riven at her side afterwards.

Once the door closed, Irelia allowed herself to look at Riven, her head bathed in blood, the woman completely unconscious.

She couldn't pull her eyes from her.

The long haired woman climbed into the front seat ahead of Irelia, the brawler on the one to its' right.

As yet another engine revved up, the vehicle sped up, the siren that had followed them before coming back to life, the _Hat Lady _controlling the vehicle as her hands landed on a wheel and commanded the mechanical thing to move as she desired, the four of them dodging other cars and people as they rushed towards the hospital.

So Irelia sighed, leaning back against the seat, eyes never leaving Riven's figure.

_Desintoxication will be long now, he said._

_I hope you're alive for it._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Short chapter in comparison to others, no?

To be honest, I wanted to get it done with this one since... Idk i'm not a fan? huh.

Let me know what you think!


	21. Variation Under Domestication

Piltover was a city made out of _speed._

Irelia could see that much.

She had been able to witness it in many things.

She had seen it in the way the scenery shifted rapidly behind Riven as she kept an eye on her, the vehicle they were in speeding through the city at an immense velocity.

She had watched that speed go up a notch the moment they arrived at the hospital, paramedics and policemen quickly taking Riven away, no matter how much she complained and tried to fight her way through them, so as to go with her.

She had felt it when the woman with the top hat and the brawler with _VI _tattooed on her face flanked her and rushed her towards a room, keeping an eye on her as a nurse patched her up.

She had tried to fight it when the two officers that kept her company had forced her into the car once more, telling her they'd take her to the police station, forcing her to leave Riven behind.

She only stopped witnessing such speed right then and there, in the top hat woman's office, where the world suddenly seemed to stop spinning, the only indication of it going on being the ticking of a clock that hung from a wall.

It only infuriated her even more whenever she thought of the irony of it all; the city of speed decided to slow down the moment her heart decided to join the race.

She felt like running out of the office and back to the hospital but all she could do was remain seated by a chair, her hands still cuffed behind her back.

She let out a long exhale in a deep sigh and looked around the room a bit, ignoring the hot stares of blue and violet eyes.

The room was small yet smart, a door with a textured glass being it's only entry, a coat rack standing to its' right and the ticking clock hanging on the wall to its' left, tall libraries on the walls to each side of her, stacked with books she trusted their owner didn't even know what they talked about, a deep red carpet on the floor, a desk laid above it with lots of paperwork scattered over it and a small golden plate on it that read _Sheriff Caitlyn_, the chair behind it empty, with Vi and the woman with the top hat standing right behind it, a big window that occupied all of the far end wall making Irelia squint her eyes a bit, the light that came through it being a bit blinding, not letting her see the City of Progress underneath the evening Sun, behind the glass.

It reminded her of her own office, a bit.

It only looked more…

..._Fast? In a way?_

As if the owner lived on a rush, even more so than she did.

_Life in the fast lane._

This office looked even more sober than hers did, if such a thing were possible.

But still, it did let her know that the owner of such a room was just like her, in many ways.

Her eyes landed on the two women in front of her, who were still quiet and staring at her; Vi looking uncannily normal without her armor and gauntlets, wearing only a white tank top and black, skin-tight jeans, while the other officer was still on that purple dress she wore, her top hat hanging idly from the coat rack by the door.

_If she's Vi, you must be the so called Sheriff Caitlyn._

_So _you _are the boss, here._

The boss' eyes moved towards the pink haired brute's eyes, "Go on," She said, motioning with her hand from the brawler to Irelia, as if inviting her to approach her.

Violet eyes blinked once as she seemed to snap out of it, "Right," She mumbled, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and smacking it against the desk, "Let's get this over with, shall we?" She asked, her eyes going from the paper —a picture, as Irelia saw an image and no text on it —to Irelia's cold, blue eyes. "The security cameras from the area nearby the Boundary Markets caught you and your white haired friend, running around with none other than _Jinx. _What happens in Zaun is none of our business, but the moment you stepped into Piltover all that we were able to see was your friend, _Jinx _and you, wrecking the Market, right before she got on her rocket's back and escaped the scene, waving you goodbye; it pushes us to think you may be affiliated with her so I will ask this and I will ask it _once," _And she was trying so hard to sound both serious and stern, all of it sounding so artificial on such a laid back woman, "May you explain what you both were doing there?"

Irelia was looking at her with a frown, her lip up in a grimace as she regarded Vi. "Who the _fuck _is _Jinx?"_

Vi's eyes were slightly wide, her mouth agape, while the Sheriff's expression was one of smugness.

The blue haired woman opened her mouth to speak—

"Don't even think about it," Vi said, before groaning.

"If you don't listen to me, why should _I _listen to _you?" _Caitlyn questioned, still looking cocky. "I _told you _that they didn't even _know _who Jinx is, Vi." She looked at Irelia, then, "She doesn't even look Piltovian, let alone Zaunite."

"They were both _armed!"_

"Yes, with _swords," _Caitlyn retorted, "And they were _running away _from Jinx."

The pink haired woman seemed to be about to lose her mind, "_Jinx waved them goodbye before leaving!"_

"_She does that to us too!"_

And that made Vi give up, groaning as she smacked her face with her hand. "Fine, Cait. You win."

"When do I lose?" Caitlyn said arrogantly, moving to seat on her chair, right in front of Irelia. "My apologies for that," She said, her eyes again on Irelia. "You see, my partner believed that you and your friend were involved with Jinx, somehow, and I decided to let her make a fool of herself, if only to teach her a lesson, the hard way." She didn't bother hiding the smirk on her face as Vi groaned again, moving to stand behind her chair, a bit to a side, resting her hand on Caitlyn's armrest.

"Okay, I understand," Irelia started, still tense, "You allowed her to make a mistake, she did and now she's being humiliated by it, whatever." Irelia ignored their curious looks, "But it means I'm innocent and there's no real motive to arrest me, so let me go, _now."_

"Now, now," Caitlyn started, a certain tone of authority on her voice, "It's not that easy, either." She warned, "Let's begin with the basics; you probably already know this by force of deduction, but let me introduce ourselves. My name is Caitlyn and I'm the Sheriff of this city." She turned towards Vi, "This is Vi, the Enforcer of this city." She then looked at Irelia, "As you may imagine, my job as the Sheriff is to know _who _everyone who walks around Piltover is and I must admit: I do not know who you are." Caitlyn confessed, a frown on her face. "I can tell you're not from here, your clothing being enough evidence of it, telling me you must be from Ionia." She raised a brow, "Far away from home, aren't we?"

Irelia was _not _having fun. "Release me _right now."_

"I'm afraid I can't until I know for sure that you're not a menace and you're not running away." Caitlyn said, before narrowing her eyes. "Right now, not cooperating with the police forces, you're nothing but a criminal, so I'm definitely _not _releasing you—"

"I'm Irelia Lito, the Captain of the Ionian Guard and Ionia's temporary governor."

They all remained in silence.

Caitlyn held her stare for a second, before closing her eyes, sighing quietly. "Release her, Vi."

The Enforcer looked at her with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, before letting out a bellowing laugh, "I can't believe—"

"Quiet down."

"She just got you so fucking good—"

"_Vi," _Caitlyn growled, a glare on her face, "_Cut it out."_

And the Enforcer quieted down at that, obeying her, but she kept snickering nonetheless, mumbling under her breath a quick, _I can't believe you played her that good, congratulations, _as she uncuffed Irelia, before moving towards the door and laying against it.

A subtle way of telling the Captain she was not to leave the office anytime soon.

"What are you doing in Piltover?"

"I didn't mean to come to Piltover," Irelia replied to Caitlyn, "I meant to go to Zaun."

"And why do you want to go to Zaun?"

"That's not your jurisdiction and, therefore, none of your business, either."

Vi howled from her spot behind Irelia, "Damn, Cupcake, miss _Lito_ here seems to be getting you really good, today."

Cailtyn closed her eyes. "Vi, you dare open your mouth once more and I will fire you."

She didn't reply.

The Sheriff looked at Irelia, once more. "I see you've quickly caught up with Piltover's police department's politics and rules, Captain Lito, but we will consider this one case as particularly _special, _since we're dealing with the _Leader of Ionia, _nonetheless, and I will ignore that Zaun and Piltover are not the same city, if only for a while. Answer me, Captain, _what are you doing here?"_

Irelia's jaw was locked, her hands still massaging her wrists.

Caitlyn was the _definition _of _cold; _she _knew _she'd get whatever she wanted if she pressed the Captain hard enough. Surely, Irelia didn't have to tell her anything if she didn't want to, but the Sheriff had an uncanny ability to make her feel like she had a lot to lose, were she not to reply.

But Irelia wasn't easily intimidated; the good thing about being alike Caitlyn was that she could see past the act and the pretences, not care about them, disregard the implied threats completely.

So she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "_Why _should we consider this case to be particularly special? I'm just a passerby, Sheriff."

Caitlyn smirked at Irelia's smug look, a certain malice on her eyes. "You think you're very clever, don't you, Captain?" She asked her, not letting her reply before was talking again, "Very well. Let's talk about something else; what's your friend's name?"

Riposte.

The chink in her armor, easily discovered, awfully exploited.

Irelia felt Caitlyn stealing the upper hand from her, but decided to keep that smug look on her face, anyway. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Caitlyn sighed, her smirk still on her face. "I would," She confesse with a nod of her head, the gestures making Irelia uneasy. "Vi, what was the woman's name, again?"

Irelia turned to look at Vi, staring intently at some device on her hand, her finger moving on its' screen, "Riven, former Hand of Noxus, wanted by the Noxian Empire for escaping her trial by combat."

Caitlyn's eyebrows rose at that, her lips forming a small _Oh, _"So Captain Lito's friend is a celebrity _and _a _criminal?" _She smiled at Irelia, then, "Who would have thought?"

Irelia's look of calmness was gone, "How do you know that?"

"News spread fast nowadays, especially with technology." Caitlyn was still smiling as she said, "Not to mention the crazy number of Noxian spies that plague both Piltover and Zaun. You see, the Noxian leaders must have sent an encrypted message towards their spies, hoping to find Riven's whereabouts without moving more than a finger. Not only did they inform their spies, they accidentally ended up informing us too because _who_ would expect the Enforcer of Piltover to be more than just a brute and actually know how to intercept encrypted messages and decrypt them?"

Irelia remained deadly quiet, the only response to Caitlyn's words being Vi's offended _Hey! _at the Sheriff's offhand insult for her, the long haired woman smiling at Vi for a second, before letting her eyes wander back to Irelia's.

Irelia lost her cool.

She stood up abruptly, slamming her hands on the desk. "Leave her out of this." She growled, baring her teeth.

Caitlyn quietly stood up, mimicking Irelia's posture. "She's wanted by the Empire of Noxus," Caitlyn started, "Now, before you say _it's not our jurisdiction, _let me tell you that I would gladly sell her out to Noxus in exchange for them to call their ridiculous spies and make them leave _my _city, so you will quickly find out it _is, _actually, my business."

Irelia held her stare, her face contorted into an angry glare.

Caitlyn remained as poker faced as usual, the hint of a smirk on her lips.

She _knew _she had won when she mentioned Riven.

Irelia sighed, falling back on her seat once more. "Riven and I travelled from Ionia to Noxus in the hopes of finding a man whose name is Cyrus. In there, we were told he was not there and was presumed dead, for they would be looking for him too, were he alive. After that, we found out that he's in Zaun, which is our current destination."

Caitlyn sat down once more, that ghostly smirk gone as she grew serious once more. "Why are you looking for him?"

"He's a war criminal for both Ionia and Noxus." Irelia explained, "He fought for Noxus on their second invasion, but betrayed them on the battlefield by causing an explosion that killed both Noxians and Ionians."

"Friendly fire," Caitlyn mumbled as she mused out loud, "Was there a reason for him to cause said explosion?"

"No," Irelia said, "He would have had a good reason, had all the Noxians that were near the explosive been dead by then, but there was one still alive."

Caitlyn's frown deepened. "Someone important or someone disposable?"

Irelia simply replied, "His leader," watching as Caitlyn raised a brow and said _Riven?, _the name of the former Noxian prompting her to nod her head in response.

Caitlyn mimicked her movement, "I see. It would have been a logical move if it had been only you and yours in the danger zone, but if Riven was in there too…"

"It was premeditated," Vi said, making Irelia turn to look at her as the pink haired woman walked towards them, arms crossed in front of her. "He thought of it and did it, on purpose."

"That much we had imagined," Irelia replied.

"How did you find out his whereabouts?" Caitlyn asked, looking even more serious than before. "If he was not in Noxus and Riven is wanted by the Empire—"

"_Someone_ who trusts Riven and belongs to the Noxian ruling force gave us the information." Irelia said, unsure about _why _she felt the need of protecting Darius' identity, but doing it nonetheless.

Caitlyn raised a brow. "A Noxian ruler gave information to someone considered a traitor to the Empire of Noxus?" She asked, surprised by such knowledge. "That's quite a feat."

"And it's _weird, _to say the least," Vi commented, standing next to Irelia, "I mean, I'm sure Noxus would come for this guy if he really is a Noxian traitor and they _do _know where he's hiding" She shrugged, "Seen it happen, before."

Caitlyn raised a brow, "In Piltover or in Zaun?" And, once she saw Vi open her mouth to answer, looking rather uncomfortable by the question, she added, "Actually, don't tell me. I don't want to find out." She narrowed her eyes, "If I don't know, I don't have to do anything about it."

"Anything like what?"

"Like _firing _you, for carrying out vigilantism in Zaun."

Vi scoffed, "And _how _would you know I've been doing that every time I'm in Zaun?"

Caitlyn didn't reply verbally, her only response to the pink haired woman being her bored expression, an eyebrow slowly rising.

Vi felt uncomfortable. "Why would you _care!?"_

Caitlyn slowly closed her eyes, "_Vi."_

Vi turned around, a hand on the back of her neck, scratching strands of pink hair, "I said nothing."

Caitlyn smirked ever so slightly, reopening her eyes. "Good." She looked at Irelia once more, "So we only know a few things for certain here, Captain." She went back to their original topic. "One," She raised a finger, "Cyrus is a Noxian citizen that hides in Zaun. Two," She raised another one, "He's betrayed Noxus and _that's _why he hasn't returned to his home, choosing to hide from the consequences of his actions in Zaun, instead. Three," She raised yet another digit, "The higher ups in Noxus _know _where he is and one of them has told a Noxian _traitor, despite _their colleagues doing quite the opposite and _lying about it, _which leads to a few conclusions; either the lead you've been given is a lie—"

"I know it isn't—"

"Or Cyrus is not considered a criminal by Noxus, being _protected _by them, instead, your informant being the only one who's not protecting him."

Irelia hadn't expected that, "What?"

"Seems possible," Vi mumbled, her intense stare going from Caitlyn to Irelia as she turned to look at the Ionian, "Let's believe that the guy who told you where Cyrus is was being honest with you: that means that the rest of Noxus held this information from you _and, _if they told you he was a _criminal _that they would have looked for, much like they are currenly doing with your Riven girl_, _then it also means that they _lied._" Vi said, nodding her head a bit, as if asking _Are you following? _"Noxus told you Cyrus was dead because if he were alive, they would kill him _and yet _you found out that this was a _lie: why _would Noxus lie to you?"

Irelia frowned, "Because Riven is a traitor."

"No," Vi replied, "Because I know how Noxians work and they wouldn't talk to you if they consider you're a traitor or _whatever." _She shrugged, "Sure, they tried to arrest her at some point, hence the trial, and they totally want to kill her now, hence the search request online, but _still: _if they had considered Riven a traitor from the very beginning, they wouldn't have answered her questions, not even with lies. They would have straight out arrested her."

"That's true," Caitlyn commented, making Irelia's eyes go back to her. "Noxians don't waste breath on anyone, let alone _traitors. _They lied to you, _purposefully_, except for your informant, who actually helped you, also on purpose."

Irelia sighed at the information overload, laying back against her chair, a hand going to her hair as she moved it back, a nervous gesture.

"First time around cops, I see." Caitlyn quipped, amused. "I bet it's different to Ionian soldiers."

"It's very different to anything I've ever experienced," Irelia admitted.

"Cupcake here knows how to investigate," Vi said, smiling at Irelia, "She's all clever like that— _Ow!" _She yelped, rubbing the spot on her hand that Caitlyn had pinched. "That hurts!"

"I told you _not _to call me that and _yet…" _Caitlyn said, sighing as she shook her head. "I _will _fire you, one day."

"But today is _not _that day," Vi replied, triumphantly, leaning over the desk.

"You've three seconds to get out of my face before I fire you."

Not a second had passed that Vi was already standing by the door again.

Caitlyn's eyes went back to Irelia. "Quite an interesting case you've got going on here, Captain Lito." She said, a certain tone of intrigue coating her words. "It has it all; betrayal, scheming, backstabbing, lies…" Her eyes grew intense as she added, "_Revenge."_

"We are not here looking for revenge," Irelia said, "We're here to take him back to Ionia and—"

"_Save me _the discourse, Captain." Caitlyn said, huffing a laugh and waving a hand in a disregarding matter. "You want him _dead _and we all know it: you're most definitely _not _going to take him back to Ionia and _judge him accordingly." _

Irelia felt her face heat up, feeling the Sheriff's words as both a lie and the proof that she had been caught red handed. "I am not—"

"Then your friend will." Caitlyn replied, knowing very well the silly excuses Irelia could come up with. "She has more than enough reasons to want him dead."

Irelia sighed in defeat. "Maybe she does."

"Speaking of the Devil," Vi said, making them both look at her, finding her staring at the electronic device she had been looking at, before. "There's a situation at the hospital," She looked at Caitlyn, serious, "Riven has woken up."

Irelia stood up abruptly, but Caitlyn remained seated, though she looked wary. "And what's the issue with that?"

"That she's not _behaving." _Vi said, staring hard into the Sheriff's cold blue eyes. "Guess Noxians cannot be domesticated."

"Then we must deal with it," Caitlyn replied, standing up, moving towards the door and grabbing her top hat, placing it on her head. "Let's go," She looked at Irelia, "You too."

They rushed through the police station's halls, Vi falling into a quick step right next to Irelia as Caitlyn walked ahead, "She's tearing the hospital _down_," She said, looking at the device's screen, before looking at Irelia with a frown, "What's wrong with your girl?"

_Your girl, _but she had no time to focus on that, fear already taking over her, "When you finished shattering her blade, you helped release her from a very poisonous magic, much like an addiction, but—"

"But like every drug, the withdrawal effect is bad, specially if you abuse it." Vi finished for her, already knowing what she was talking about. "I'm going to assume she was a very heavy user?"

Irelia nodded, sighing, "Yes, she was."

"Then she's broken, Captain," Vi said as they reached the station's exit, rushing down the entry's stairs. "Just like her sword."

"Yes, she _is _broken." Irelia replied as they reached the car, "Broken, but not beyond repair."

They all got in the car, "Let's hope you're right, for her sake."

And then, with no further warning, the car sped up and hit the streets, its' siren blaring loudly.

_Let's hope I'm right._

And once again, Irelia fell into the claws of the city of speed.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

A bit shorter than usual, definitely longer than the last one.

How are we doing, yall?

I want to thank you all for your comments and I feel like I should remind you all that I read them ALL! Those interested in talking with me, please do not hesitate on hitting me up on my tumblr! (mililap). I can't quite read all of y'alls reviews to reply to all of em right now, but know that you've all brought a smile to my face (Wolf Spirit, you're amazing. Never change.)

Anywho, enjoy! And let me know your thoughts! (Damn you FF, for not letting me reply to reviews like Ao3 does with comments).


	22. To Right The Wrongs Of Many

Her ears were ringing, her vision blurry and constantly shifting.

Was that wall white? How is it that it was white a moment ago and now she saw it splattered with red?

How is it that she knew the red was blood?

How come the red blood was then glowing in a very bright, toxic looking _green?_

How come it was clean again?

And how come she was suddenly not in the hospital anymore, but in a battlefield instead?

Then in Noxus.

Then in the Fleshing Arena.

Then in Targon.

Then in Ionia again, a sea of bodies around her.

Riven needed _just a minute _in the same scenario, just a single minute—

"_Kill them all!" _One of her Elite screamed on her face, looking quite dead with his trident embedded into his chest, his dead-white hands on her shoulders, "_Stab them until the blood comes out!"_

"_Burn them down!" _Leah shouted back as she grabbed Riven and forced her to turn and look at her, her whole body scorched beyond recognition. "_Burn them all down to the ground!"_

"_You left us to die!" _ Aryana shouted, her whip tangling itself on the former Noxian's neck, "_You left us all to die just so that you could run away with the Ionian harlot!"_

The three of them cornered her against a wall.

"_So pay us back and kill them all!"_

And then she saw more people behind them.

"_Kill them all!"_

They were every person she had ever killed, every person she had ever seen die.

"_Kill them all!"_

An endless battalion of undead, in front of her eyes.

"_Kill them all!"_

They were drowning her, suffocating her with their demands.

The message had gotten into her head, though.

_Kill them all!_

So Riven fought back against them, if only to allow herself to breathe, "_I'll kill them all!" _She roared her response, unaware of where she was and who stood in front of her, but knowing very well what she had to do.

So she looked at her anonymous opponents and felt the battle rage taking over, the bloodlust consuming her until she saw nothing but flesh she had to tear apart.

And tear it apart, she would.

She fought the creatures that seemed hellbent on holding her down, their chains unable to trap her, their shackles unable to catch her ankles and wrists.

She punched them and clawed at their eyes, managing to blind one of the several creatures.

How many where there around her? She didn't know, she couldn't count.

She didn't care.

She would fight them all, anyway.

"I'll _kill you all!" _She screamed at her, "I'll _fucking kill you all!"_

Because _someone _had to die; _her, _or _them._

And she would kill them before they could even touch her.

* * *

"Fucking Hell."

And Irelia could only agree with Vi there.

The hospital was the visual description of chaos.

People were running to get out of it, both medics and patients alike, desperation evident on their expressions, some struggling to get out but nobody bothering to help anyone out, fear for their very own lives rendering them unable to even think of anybody else but them.

Police forces were surrounding and entering the building and a specific man called Caitlyn's attention. "_Jayce_!"

Irelia heard Vi groan in exasperation before seeing who had caught Caitlyn's eye.

A tall man with clothing of red and gold, a humongous hammer of the same color scheme on his hands, the weapon looking more like Caitlyn's gun than Ban's warhammer, a blue crystal on its' core making it glow a faint cerulean.

The tall man turned at the sound of his name, smiling at the Sheriff, "Good to see you, Cait."

He completely ignored Vi's presence and, by doing so, he accidentally ignored Irelia's, who still remained to the brawler's side, something about the pink haired woman being inviting enough that she felt better by her side.

_Blame it on her not being so much like me, unlike—_

"I'm going to _ignore _that vigilantism is illegal for a moment," Caitlyn said, regarding him with a cold stare as she did so, Irelia seeing him _visibly flinch _at that, "And I'll ask: what's the situation?"

Jayce's expression got more serious, "A patient woke up and she's wrecking the place,"

And Irelia didn't know exactly what made her had the hope of that patient not being her, for the report had been that it had been _Riven._

Still, she waited.

Caitlyn was frowning in concentration, "Did you get visuals on her?"

So Jayce then proceeded to describe her, "White hair—"

No more was needed as Caitlyn and Jayce staggered backwards as Irelia pushed them aside and ran towards the building, Vi quickly following a few steps behind as she displayed a better reaction time than the Sheriff and the Defender of Tomorrow.

* * *

The creatures were gone.

No enemies to fight.

The voices, demons, ghosts, her _friends _hadn't had enough, though.

She felt blood dripping down her chin, as if she had ripped a foe apart with her teeth.

Something told her that hadn't happened, but she disregarded it, anyway. To her, it _had _happened.

She felt the bloodlust consuming her, advancing forwards on her, inch by inch, driving her mad, madly insane, insanely mad.

She wanted to _kill. _She _needed _to _kill._

She needed to _overpower_ them, crush them with her strength, attack them with her speed, _dominate them _and _dominate _the game.

Which game?

Who's _them?_

She didn't care.

She stalked her way throughout the battlefield, feeling as her armor fell, chunk by chunk, to the dead ground, blood covering her from head to toes, the humming of the drums of war keeping her heart alive and beating.

Where was her blade? She felt the need to hold it. She _wanted _to hold it.

She felt like something was missing without it.

Where was it?

She shook her head as the voices kept screaming at her. "It _doesn't matter!" _She roared, feral. "I don't really _need _it. I'll _kill _our enemies anyway."

She found a knife on the ground and picked it up, cutting her palms open, letting her own blood stain her hands and mix with her foes'.

She pressed her fingers against the cuts, before dragging them all over the walls, each and every movement careful, precise, specific.

She would kill them. She would kill them with her all.

With power.

With strength.

With speed.

With domination.

* * *

Judging by the speed at which her heart was beating, Irelia thought it was about to explode or abruptly stop.

She didn't know _what _piece of information, exactly, had driven her into that state: the way the hospital was _trashed, _the way there were people still in there, _dragging _themselves, _crawling _towards them, towards the exit, as they had been injured and they couldn't even stand up.

The way there was blood everywhere.

Or maybe it was the way she could see those gods-forsaken runes, drawn all over the place.

Drawn in red ink.

Life's red ink.

"These people need our help," Irelia was thankful of Vi's voice, breaking the deadly atmosphere, her comment not being as wittily funny as she appeared to be all the time, being rather more serious than usual.

The pink haired brawler was a woman of action, after all.

True to her character.

The Ionian looked around, letting herself assess the situation; they were in one of the main halls of the hospital already, but they were pretty much near the entry. Men and women, some young, some old, were trying to get out, those with enough health making a run for it, while others had to drag themselves through the ground, blood and debris and medical utensils digging into their palms and shins as they crawled.

And Irelia decided to pretend those which didn't move were _unconscious, _not dead.

She couldn't tell if she didn't inspect them.

She wasn't planning to, anyway.

_Alive until proven contrary._

And, despite the chaotic scenario that screamed _Yes, they need both you and Vi's help, _Irelia _disregarded it all completely _when she said, "I need to find her."

And if the roles had been inverted, Irelia would have _lost _her mind at such a statement, claiming that she had to be blind _or _stupid _or _both to have her priorities set in such a way.

But Vi wasn't her.

There was a certain deep understanding to her, like she could always see beyond the veil, somehow, and comprehend.

And she seemed both oblivious and aware of such a skill.

The enforcer nodded her head once. "I'll handle the injured _and _both Caitlyn and Jayce, if they enter the building. Go look for her."

And Irelia turned—

A strong hand on her arm stopped her from moving, making her turn to look at the Enforcer.

It was the most serious she had seen her look, up until then. "Do what you _have to," _She commanded, "And stay safe. I'll look for you once I'm done helping the wounded."

Irelia nodded her head once and, releasing herself from Vi as the pink haired woman moved towards those injured, the Captain ran through the halls, following the trail of runes and blood.

* * *

The battlefield was _empty._

Riven roared, slamming her fist against something hard, to her right, like a wall, but all she saw was _air._

_Where _were her enemies?

"Fucking _cowards!" _She barked out loud in a battle cry, "Come and _face me!" _She continued stalking around the maze of trees and dead greenery—

And, afar, she found what she was looking for.

Someone.

And their eyes found hers.

So Riven smiled and stomped her way towards them.

* * *

Between abruptly stopping and exploding, Irelia knew her heart had chosen to stop.

She sight was enough to make it do just that.

Riven came to view as she walked out of one of the many doors the hall contained and Irelia's eyes locked on her figure, analyzing it from head to toe; a white hospital gown that displayed bloodstains all over it covered her body, her hands unwrapped, their burn scars and blisters carelessly exposed, her palms cut open and blood dripping from those wounds, her body a mess of sweat and crimson, her hair crazed and messy, out of the bun she usually wore.

And then she turned, finally sensing Irelia's staring.

And those eyes glowed _green._

And a feral smile got planted upon her lips.

Irelia froze.

Riven sprung into action.

The Captain of the Guard flinched at the sight of Riven approaching _fast—_

The former Noxian started _running _towards her—

Irelia dodged as Riven tried to stab her on the face with a pair of scissors, the white haired warrior succeeding at embedding the pointy end of her weapon on Irelia's bicep, making her scream in pain, as she quickly took it off her arm and tried to stab her again, this time on the chest.

Irelia grabbed her hand with both of hers, pushing it back, their arms shaking with the strength they were putting on the task.

Bared teeth, green eyes, sweat on her face and saliva dripping from her mouth as she growled, the sight was enough to terrify Irelia as she said, "Riven, _stop!"_

"I'll stop when you're on the ground," The former Noxian growled in response, bringing her free hand to push on the scissors, the extra help letting her slowly overpower Irelia, the end of her weapon getting closer and closer to the Ionian's chest—

Riven quickly brought one of her hands up in a fist and punched Irelia on the face, trying to make her stop fighting back.

She succeeded at it, but Irelia pivoted on her feet, letting the scissors scratch her clothes but not hurt her as it moved past her, bringing her hand to Riven's nape and pushing forcefully, the momentum making the warrior fall to the ground.

Once on the ground, though, Riven kicked one of her legs parallel to the ground, sweeping Irelia's feet and bringing her down.

The Ionian didn't have time to to think as the crazed warrior crawled on top of her, scissors still on her hand, bringing them down on Irelia's face.

Her hands came up to catch it by the blade, pushing back as Riven pushed it down.

And she was overpowering her again.

"Fucking _die," _Riven growled on her face, putting all of her weight on the blade—

Knowing her balance would be off, Irelia brought her hips up abruptly, turning to a side.

Riven quickly fell to the ground on her back, the Ionian Captain taking the moment to stand up and back.

Pulling herself up with her core strength, Riven was quickly on her feet, once again, running towards her—

Instinct taking over, Irelia moved and a blade came out, dashing towards Riven.

The former Noxian had not seen it coming, for she was running face first towards it and, knowing she couldn't stop due to her speed, she released the scissor, her hands coming up—

Realizing what was about to happen, Irelia dropped the blade to the ground, sparing the white haired woman.

The obstacle being gone, Riven's eyes followed the crestblade as it touched the floor, not bothering to stop running.

Looking away, she ended up colliding against Irelia, both falling to the ground.

Green eyes widened and looked into blue ones.

Then narrowed.

Before she could react, Riven punched Irelia on the face, the Ionian's skull hitting the ground, hard.

She tried to punch her again, but Irelia rolled backwards, successfully flipping their positions and pressing her forearm against the woman's neck, hoping to cut off the air supply, knocking her out.

But Riven didn't seem to mind the pressure, her eyes still glowing with rage and her teeth gritting, as the warrior grabbed Irelia's arm with both hands and pulled from it, breathing deeply as she released herself from the grip and flipping them once more.

Now on top, Riven decided not to make the same mistake again, grabbing Irelia by the neck and bringing her up, headbutting her once, twice, three times, before pushing her head forcefully back down to the ground and placing her hands around her neck, squeezing tightly.

Irelia clawed at her hands, her arms, her face, miserably failing to do get a reaction as Riven seemed completely out of it.

She felt the pressure being too much, her eyes feeling like they'd come out of their respective sockets.

And then she heard how Riven growled and a faint murmur came to life, the former Noxian breathing out a deadly mantra.

"_Kill her, kill her, kill her."_

Irelia knew she was about to pass out.

"_Kill her."_

She was feeling dizzy, already.

"_Kill her."_

She saw her vision getting blurry and darker.

"_Kill her—"_

A fist came into contact with Riven's temple and the former Noxian fell to a side.

Irelia started breathing desperately, coughing as she did so, sitting up with Vi's help, a frown on the pink haired woman as she said, "Didn't I tell you to _do what you had to?"_

"What would that be?" Irelia said in between coughing fits, "_Killing her?"_

Vi replied only with a sigh, her eyes quickly finding Riven as she got up, the brawler doing the same, her fists coming up in front of her, "What's up with your girlfriend?" She asked Irelia over her shoulder, eyes never leaving the growling madwoman "Because either you guys have some intense foreplay or this is not—"

She couldn't stop her comment, for Riven was lashing out at her, a fist trying to reach the pugilist's face.

Vi easily dodged, seeing Riven's second fist come for her and dodging yet again, her head movement being swift enough to avoid her without having to move much.

As the third attempt came, she dodged to a side and, taking one step forwards, she threw an uppercut at her opponent, her knuckles connecting with Riven's chin, feeling the woman's teeth clatter at the impact.

As the Noxian's hands dropped, her guard gone, Vi used her other hand to land a shovel punch right underneath the woman's ribcage, successfully knocking the air out of her.

Riven bent over in pain, her face unguarded.

Vi landed a right hook to her temple, right before landing a left one all over her face.

And just like that, Riven was knocked down.

Out cold.

And Vi hadn't even gotten started.

"You're good with your fists," Irelia commented, looking at her as the brawler kneeled next to Riven, inspecting her a bit, "_Very _good."

"Perks of being a boxer, baby." Vi offered as a response, "Trained on it for quite some time and actually have a knack for it." She frowned, "But I know the fight was easy because your girl here is still worn out due to all our previous fighting." She smiled, cockily at the Ionian, "I would still win, though, don't be fooled."

Irelia moved towards Vi as the pugilist kept inspecting Riven, "She'll be okay," She told Irelia, "She's just unconscious now, but she'll wake up and keep choking you out in an hour, maybe." She looked at Irelia, "Mind explaining what all of that was about? Because I've dealt with drug addicts before and none were _this _violent."

Irelia sighed. "It's not a common addiction," She told her, "It's addiction to—"

"Power, strength, speed and domination." They both turned to look at Caitlyn, her rifle on her hands, as the Sheriff walked towards them.

Irelia's eyebrows rose, "You know—"

"What the beautiful paintings your colleague made mean?" She raised a brow, "Yes, I know exactly what they mean. You will soon find out I know a lot of things."

"She's a walking encyclopedia." Vi murmured under her breath.

Irelia's eyes remained on Caitlyn, a looming question in them.

_What will you do with her?_

Caitlyn knew. Irelia knew Caitlyn knew.

"Vi, cuff her."

The brawler got a pair of handcuffs from Caitlyn and obligued, turning Riven so that she'd be lying on her stomach and, bringing her hands to her back, she shackled her wrists.

"Pick her up and let's get out of here," Caitlyn commanded, "I've got reinforcements coming this way, they'll clear the place." She looked at Irelia, "You're lucky no one was killed, though there were many very close to it."

"Lucky?"

"Yes, because it means we can avoid locking her up in a cell." Caitlyn commented, starting her way towards the door, both the Ionian and the brawler, the Noxian on her shoulder, following closely. "We will go back to the station and decide there." Stealing a glance at the Noxian, she added, "But first, we will patch you up _and _sedate her." Feeling that Irelia was about to say something, she said, "It will _not _harm her."

Irelia sighed.

It was better than the alternative.

* * *

_You failed._

_You failed, you failed, you failed!_

"Stop!"

_You failed, you failed, you failed, you failed—_

"Fucking _stop!" _She roared at the whispering, yelling, crying, roaring voices all around her in the middle of the darkness.

But they didn't listen to her.

_It's gone, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone!_

And she knew they were talking about her sword.

_Worthless, useless, meaningless, it's gone and you failed!_

_Go die, go die, go die, go die—_

"_Stop!"_

But they listened to no reason.

For it was gone and she failed.

And Riven felt like she should die.

* * *

"How does it feel?"

Irelia moved her arm around a bit, her other hand coming up to gently touch the bandages that were wrapped around her arm. "It's fine." She said, "She hadn't hit me anywhere too compromising."

"But a wound is a wound," Vi said, her eyes on her, "And shouldn't be ignored."

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk." She said, smirking as Vi waved a hand dismissively at her.

"What will happen now?" Irelia finally asked, impatience taking over as she looked around nervously: Caitlyn on her side of the desk, Vi to the Captain's side, Riven, sedated, to her other.

It looked like a very weird painting, in her head.

Caitlyn sighed, eyes on Riven. "Now, you explain to _me _what is wrong with _her."_

Irelia exhaled slowly. "She used to have a black, magic blade with the runes you saw before carved on it, but a part of it was broken, so its' magic started to bleed through to her and infected her mind. Her blade shattered when we got arrested, so now she's going through a…" She trailed off, "Withdrawal kind of phase."

"And she's going through all stages of grief before finally becoming sane again." Caitlyn mused out loud, before sighing, "Your friend is quite a delicate issue, Captain Lito."

"I know, but I won't give her up."

Caitlyn nodded her head once. "I never thought you would. Very well," She stood up and moved towards the door to her office.

Irelia followed her with her eyes, "Where are you going to?"

"Out," Caitlyn said, opening the door and walking through it, before closing it.

Irelia stared, until Vi's chuckle made her turn and look at her. "What are you finding so funny, now?"

Vi was smiling. "She did that so that I can offer you help, you know?" Vi raised a brow, "Helping you right now would be something we shouldn't do as Piltover's police force, for it would be very controversial politically speaking and it would mean trouble with Noxus, but that doesn't mean you cannot be helped. She left the room so that she won't find out about anything incriminating, because I will _totally _give you a place to stay in _Zaun _while she recovers and, as we know…"

"It's not your jurisdiction." Irelia finished, raising her brows.

Vi nodded her head. "Exactly, so that we cannot do anything if she goes a bit crazy." She narrowed her eyes, "Which means we won't be able to help you much, either, so _please _be careful." She got up, "Now, let's go—"

She quieted down as she felt Irelia's hand following her, reaching her cheek, making her look at the Ionian.

"Thank you."

Vi smiled, "It's not a big deal, Captain." She said, before moving towards Riven and picking her up. "It's just a little bit of help on your new task."

Irelia raised a brow, "Detoxifying an addict?"

But Vi knew better. "Righting the wrongs of many. Now, follow me. Let me show you your new home."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Question for y'all, same one that Vi made for Irelia.

How does this chapter feel, folks?

Love y'all!


	23. Agony Of The Battlefield

The contrast between Zaun and Piltover was very pronounced, Irelia noticed.

Gone were the golden, architectonically beautiful skyscrapers and buildings as Vi drove the car further and further away, distancing them from the City of Progress, getting them into the City of Iron and Glass, green hues taking over as the red ones disappeared, blackness appearing where golden colors had been before.

And then Irelia noticed the descent: the more into Zaun they got, the lower and lower they travelled, as if going down the stairs.

She would look up at the sky while Vi drove, watching it move away from them, hiding behind tall, dark buildings that covered her view of it.

Steam and smog taking over the atmosphere, Irelia decided not to look at the sky anymore.

"Shocking change, isn't it?" She heard Vi's voice, which prompted her to look to her left, seeing the brawler smirking as she drove, eyes on the road.

"It is, to be honest." Irelia replied, "These cities are a world away and yet…"

"And yet they are connected and coexist in the same place." Vi finished for her. "The funniest thing is how, despite Piltover and Zaun being polar opposites, they cannot survive, let alone thrive, without the other." She stole a glance at Irelia, that smirk still in place, "Zaun needs Piltover to carry on existing as it does just as badly as Piltover needs Zaun to exist the way it does."

Irelia raised a brow. "It's paradoxically ironic."

Vi laughed, "That's a way to put it."

Irelia tried not to think about the girl who laid asleep on the back of the car.

She tried not to think about her and failed, she tried not to worry about her and failed.

She tried not to see parallels between Piltover and Zaun and Riven and her and she failed—

"How come you have a place to stay in that's located in Zaun?" Irelia asked as the thought hit her, desperate to change the topic in her head, hellbent on focusing on something else, "Don't you live in Piltover?"

"Well, I haven't lived all my life in Piltover." Vi began, "I moved there when Cait hired me to be a part of the police force, but before that I lived here."

Irelia's eyes widened a bit. "In Zaun?"

Vi nodded. "In Zaun."

"So you're not a Piltovian, you're a Zaunite?"

Vi sighed before nodding, "Yeah, it's brought me problems in the past." She eyed Irelia for a second, "It's not a thing that goes unnoticed in Piltover, you know? Pilties dislike Zaunites and they dislike them a lot."

"They also make sure you _know _they dislike you, don't they?"

Vi hummed in confirmation. "Pilties can be harsh." She said, grimacing a bit, "But don't get me wrong; us Zaunites are just as bad." She raised a brow, an impish smirk on her lips, "Don't call someone from Piltover a Piltie or else they'll flip. It's kind of insulting for them, but we call them that anyways."

"Rude."

She laughed, "Very much so."

"And how did Caitlyn ever meet you?" Irelia asked her, "Or how did you ever meet her?"

"What's the difference between those two options?"

Irelia shrugged, "Whether she came to you or you went to her."

Vi chuckled at that. "Well, she came to me, then."

"Really?"

Vi frowned, "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"No reason," Irelia said, stuttering a bit at the tone with which she questioned her, "It's just that I'm surprised she'd set foot in Zaun."

"Well, it's a rather long story." Vi replied, a fond smile on her lips. "Before being a police officer, I used to be... " She searched for the right word, "On the _other _side of the law."

Irelia raised her brows, "You were a criminal?"

Vi grimaced, "You could say that." She seemed to try and steel herself a bit, before opening up, "I was part of a gang. We'd steal from anybody who had more money than us but we'd always plan heists to steal from the richest people we could use as targets."

Irelia nodded her head, "I see." She glanced at Vi, "It doesn't explain how the _Sheriff _found you interesting enough to offer you a job quite opposite to yours."

Vi huffed a laugh, "You're getting ahead of yourself!" She playfully told her off, "Let me finish the story."

Irelia rolled her eyes, but she was smirking a bit. "Fine."

"My gang planned a heist to a mining facility." She started and Irelia could see the shift in her tone as it got somber, more sober. "It was risky, considering we'd have to enter the mine, leaving only one exit for us to use, but we were all willing to take the risk." She sighed, her eyes unfocusing a bit, though not enough to make her driving dangerous, but she did slow down the car, "The raid went bad and an explosion inside the mine left us running against the clock to escape. My gang left with all the gold, but I just couldn't find it in me, the will to leave the miners behind, to their luck."

"To their untimely death." Irelia corrected.

Vi simply nodded. "I just couldn't do it, so I stayed behind with them. The cave in trapped us there." She narrowed her eyes, "They were all exhausted, hurt, dehydrated, due to both their work and our raid. Their bodies were _broken _from it all. In a way, there were all already dead." She said, "But I just couldn't leave them behind, I had to stay, see if I could help somehow, even if it was futile and all hope of survival was nonexistent."

"Considering you're here, you found a way out."

Vi nodded, a frown still on her face. "Miners wear mechanical mining rigs, much like exoskeletons, to break their way through the ground when they work." She started explaining. "I found one as we looked for a way out. It was damaged and it wouldn't help us out of the mine, but I saw some potential there; I _knew _I could use it, somehow." She rolled her shoulders a bit, trying to ease the tension on her back. "I wrenched off its' fists and started working on them," She shrugged, "I had no real tools and the very real duty of bullshitting my way out of the problem, so I did my best and I ended up with some sort of prototype-y, makeshift hextech gauntlets." She sighed, "I put them on, biting my tongue at the pain of wearing them and turned them on, praying to whatever higher power that would listen that they'd work."

"And they did."

She nodded, "And they did. They lit up and I felt like crying with happiness, I swear." She said, looking at Irelia, before she continued, "So I walked to the exit and, testing the gauntlets a bit before actually using them, I punched the rubble with my all." She smiled, "I couldn't believe it when I saw the rock get blasted away."

Irelia laughed a bit at her thought and said, "So you punched an exit through the wall."

Vi laughed too at her words, "I really did that!" She looked at Irelia for a second, a wild smile on her lips.

Irelia nodded her head. "Sometimes, you've got to _make _a door."

Vi lost her mind at that, bellowing at that. "You won't believe the amount of times I've said that phrase in my life."

"I can imagine it."

They laughed for a bit, before quieting down, letting Vi resume her story.

"After a few punches, the rubble finished giving in and we were able to get out. The miners agreed to let me escape with the gauntlets, no questions asked, as payment for my help. After that, I started working as a vigilante, fighting thugs in Zaun and sometimes in Piltover."

"And that's how Caitlyn found out about you?"

Vi nodded, "She heard about the mining incident and found my, as she called it, _improvisation skills_ rather useful, amongst other things."

"So she came looking for you?"

Vi nodded. "She came to the safehouse we're going to right now and offered me the job. I took it without resisting too much and the rest is history."

Irelia nodded her head. "I see."

And Vi seemed ready to say something, but then she looked ahead again, "We're here," She said, before slowing to a stop and turning off the car, getting out before Irelia did, opening the door to the backseat and getting Riven out.

As Irelia got out and closed the door, she looked around the darkness of Zaun, drinking in Vi's safehouse; Metal walls with glaringly colorful paint splattered on it, all of it browned a bit, oxidized due to time's spell and the hideout's lack of usage. A single light above the metallic door that indicated the entry to what looked like a deathtrap.

Irelia took in a deep breath and followed Vi as she took the lead, Riven on her arms.

"There's a numerical code that opens the door," She told Irelia in a quiet murmur as they both reached the door, the handle locked, a number keypad above it. "The code is ten-zero-six."

So Irelia pressed the keys and heard the quiet click of the lock unlocking, pushing the door open.

She had to contain the gasp of surprise at the interior of the safehouse.

The safehouse looked more like a mechanic's workshop than a hideout: it was a spacious studio: near the main door, to its' right, a sort of kitchen, split from the rest of the room by the kitchen's counter, two stools resting idly underneath it, waiting to be used. On the opposite wall, a settee, which was positioned looking at a medium sized flat screen perched on the wall. Against that same wall, but further into the room, a king sized bed with a single nightstand to a side. Finally, occupying the opposite spot to the bed in the studio, though it looked like it had clawed away, taking over every bit of the studio available, a humongous desk with an infinite number of trinkets, tools, metal, iron, cables, prototypes, inventions and artifacts that were beyond anything Irelia had ever known, beyond anything Irelia could imagine.

It struck Irelia that this place didn't look uninhabited.

"Home, sweet home," Vi said, and Irelia realized maybe it _wasn't _uninhabited.

Irelia watched Vi as the pink haired woman placed Riven on the bed, leaving a few syringes with sedatives on the nightstand by her side before walking towards the kitchen, opening the fridge. "Do you drink, Irelia?"

Irelia's eyes had floated towards the slumbering Noxian. "Not really."

"Well," Vi closed the fridge's door, turning around with two cans on her hands, a smirk on her lips, the sound of the fridge's door closing making Irelia turn to look at her, "Considering the position you're in, you do, now." She said, opening the two cans and offering the Ionian woman one. "Try it out."

Irelia grabbed the can hesitantly, but took a sip from it, Vi's eyes on her as she mimicked her actions.

She didn't spit it, but the way she grimaced was priceless, funny enough that made Vi swallow quickly, if only to laugh without spitting her drink.

"This is awful."

"It's kind of bitter, but you start liking it after a few cans. These are not even the most bitter ones I have." Vi told her, taking another gulp, sighing in contempt after swallowing it down.

Irelia was still grimacing. "I don't know how you do it."

Vi shrugged. "I just do it. Come on," She said, gesturing for Irelia to drink with her, "You'll end up liking it, I promise."

Irelia shook her head. "Not today." She said, putting the can down on the counter and pushing it towards Vi.

The brawler shrugged and, quickly downing her own drink, she placed the empty can on the counter and grabbed the full one, "More for me, a loss for you."

"Sure, a loss." She replied, before turning around and slowly, idly, walking around the studio, letting her eyes wander.

She heard Vi chuckle, "You're even more serious than Caitlyn," She commented, "I bet you've never gotten drunk."

"Not really," Irelia said, her eyes on the shiny trinkets on Vi's desk.

"You have no clue what you're missing out on."

"Whatever," Irelia said, "I'll let you know when I care." Then she thought about a thing, "Has Caitlyn ever gotten drunk?"

Vi laughed at that, "She has. Unfortunately, I haven't witnessed it, yet."

"How come?" Irelia asked, listening to Vi's footsteps as the woman walked slowly towards her.

"She doesn't get drunk on work events, unlike me, and she doesn't let me into other aspects of her life other than work, unlike what I'd like." Vi confessed nonchalantly, taking a sip from her drink as she stood next to Irelia, by her desk.

Irelia looked at her with curious eyes. "You like her?"

Vi raised a brow, "Do I look like I don't?" She questioned, "I think it's evident, the fact that this woman could spit on my face and I'd thank her."

Irelia raised her brows. "It wasn't that evident to me." But that wasn't exactly true, so she corrected herself, "I mean, _it was, _but I thought maybe you just were that way with everyone, so—"

Vi laughed, cutting her off, "That explains a _lot."_

Riposte. "What does it explain?"

The brawler patted her on the back, "I'll tell you when you get drunk with me. Until then, wonder about it on your own."

"Fine," Irelia said, huffing in disapproval. Then, "You haven't moved out completely out of this place, have you?"

"No, I haven't."

"And does Caitlyn know?"

She smirked when she sensed the change on Vi, how the woman seemed uncomfortable at that fact. "No, she doesn't."

Irelia turned to look at her, still smirking smugly. "Why is that?"

"This safehouse is my workshop, now," Vi started, "I only come here to work on pieces or come up with some new prototype."

"You're an inventor."

"Kind of, I mostly work with existing stuff," Vi replied, "But yeah, sometimes I experiment and Piltover's laws regarding hextech experimenting and technology investigating are rather…" She looked for the right word, "Strict. And rigid. And they'd totally ask me to license my shop and everything I come up with and they might even take some stuff away and, honestly? I don't have any time for that, so I come to Zaun, where no one gives a fuck, and work without anyone breathing down my neck."

"Caitlyn would totally breathe down your neck for this."

"Oh, absolutely, but not in the way I'd want," Vi said, the sexual implications making Irelia roll her eyes. "So I'd rather she never found out about this, please and thanks."

Irelia chuckled, "She won't." She confirmed, before looking around once more. "So, is this where you fix those gauntlets of yours?"

Vi nodded her head. "This is where I work on them, on my armor and on some other things as well, both for me and for some clients," She then glared, "But I never do anything for anybody who I suspect might be a criminal; usually, I only work on either police force's equipment or prosthetics for people who need them."

"I see," Irelia said, nodding. "Have you worked on Caitlyn's…"

_What the hell is her weapon called?_

"Her rifle?"

Irelia nodded, guessing that must be it.

"No, she doesn't let anybody touch it," Vi said, a smile on her lips, "But I'm dying to get my hands on that work of art."

Irelia had a bored expression when she said, "Bet that's not the only place you're itching to get your hands on."

Having not expected that, Vi guffawed, "I like you a lot, already."

Irelia chuckled, "Sure."

"Okay," Vi started, "I think it's time for me to return to Piltover." She eyed Riven, still asleep, "Do you think you can handle her?"

"Being honest, I doubt it, but I will survive."

Vi thought for a second, "Maybe I should teach you how to use a phone."

Irelia frowned, "A phone?"

She had _not _expected the Ionian not to know what a phone was. "Oh, boy." She sighed, before moving to her desk, "Come with me." And, once she reached her work station, she looked at Irelia, her eyes going up and down her body, "And we definitely have to get you out of that outfit."

Irelia looked at herself, "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"You look too Ionian."

Irelia sighed, rolling her eyes.

_What a woman._

* * *

Vi was long gone, her parting gift being a phone, which now belonged to Irelia.

She had explained really quickly how to use the artifact and Irelia had stared at her in awe, unable to believe such a thing existed.

She now knew all the different things a phone could do; she knew how to message Vi, how to call her, how to use the phone as a calculator, how to take photographs with it…

...How to search for more information.

So she had said her goodbyes to Vi and, as soon as the brawler was out, she had changed her clothes, getting some blue jeans and a white shirt on, leaving her armor by the bed, then she had laid on the couch, taken out her phone and investigated _a lot._

She had investigated about Piltover's technology and she had learned that she had travelled by car, that Vi's gauntlets were called _Atlas Gauntlets, _that there were things called _robots _walking around the streets, amongst many other things.

Irelia's vocabulary had expanded terribly in a matter of…

_What? Minutes?_

Minutes.

She had also searched for information regarding Caitlyn, the Sheriff of Piltover, and Vi, the Enforcer of Piltover.

She had learned a bit, but if she had to be fair, she had learned more from them in person.

She also searched for a man named Jayce.

She found out he liked to be called _The Defender Of Tomorrow._

She groaned at that.

_Show off._

Her eyes wandered to Riven, the Ionian at a safe distance, able to watch her without being close enough to get killed if she was not paying attention.

The sedatives so strong that she was still asleep

_Good._

_I fear what you'll do once you wake up._

A morbid curiosity got over her.

She decided to search for Riven, the Hand of Noxus.

The first thing that popped up was a picture of the woman she had met outside Ionia, so many years ago, in the second Noxian invasion.

A smug look on her face, furrowed brows, a slight smirk, a dark armor and an ebony blade.

All of the information was about a woman who, at the tender age of fourteen, had not only joined the Noxian army, but climbed to its' top; everything she found was of Riven's successes and prowess, how she was the most ruthless leader Noxus had ever seen.

Then she clicked on the button that'd show her the news regarding what she was searching for.

And then the Hand of Noxus was no more, her picture replaced by one of Riven, dressed as she had been in the Fleshing, with the headline reading _Wanted._

Riven was a _criminal_ to Noxus, now.

And Noxus was willing to reward whoever gave them information about her or, even better, brought her to Noxus.

Alive.

Because they wanted to kill her themselves.

Irelia gulped.

Then another thing intrigued her and she decided to search for her own name.

She saw pictures of her, younger, fighting against Noxians.

Then pictures of her, older, leading Ionia while there was no leader.

The information seemed to be correct, but she couldn't focus on that.

She could only focus on a picture located on the news section, with the headline _Wanted by the Empire of Noxus._

For helping a prisoner escape.

But she couldn't care less about whatever said around the picture.

She was busy staring at herself, running away, clinging to Riven.

Getting her out of certain death, even when it meant her own.

She heard the noise of bedsheets moving around and her eyes immediately fixated on Riven's figure as the Noxian moved around.

Getting up, Irelia put the phone away, stashing it in her backpocket, and walked towards the bed, suddenly feeling naked without her armor.

_No._

She didn't _need _her armor.

_This is Riven we're talking about._

Riven, who had stopped herself before killing her, that time they sparred.

But also Riven, who hadn't even tried to stop, last time.

_But I'm Irelia Lito._

And Irelia Lito never gave up.

So she sat on the bed, near the nightstand, as she watched Riven regain _consciousness_.

At least, a _consciousness _of sorts.

She saw the woman shift and move, slowly beginning to trash her body around, eyes still closed as she quietly started to mumble.

Irelia moved towards her and placed her hands on the former Noxian's shoulders, keeping her in place, "Riven," She called her name, aware that the woman was having a nightmare, intent on waking her up and sparing her from it. "Riven," She tried once more as she saw the warrior wasn't waking up, before finally saying it louder, a third time, "_Riven!"_

Shaking her as she called her name, Irelia managed to finally wake Riven up, watching her as she opened her eyes.

Irelia stiffened when she saw they were still a neon green.

Her eyes opened wide and locked on hers, both women frozen in place, holding the other's stare.

Riven frowned. "Where am I?"

"Safe," Irelia quickly replied, trying not to focus on how monotone she had sounded, unlike her usual self.

Riven looked around a bit, before looking at Irelia once more, "And who are you?"

Irelia closed her eyes, unable to look at her as she replied, "A friend," She settled for saying, knowing it'd be futile to try and make her remember her.

Riven needed to progress more into controlling her own mind before she could do something like remembering Irelia.

All she probably would remember was—

Riven sat up, her face coming close to Irelia's as she asked her one more thing.

"Where's my sword?"

And that was all she would remember or think of, Irelia knew.

Irelia didn't know what to say, "It's okay—"

"It isn't," Riven cut her off, shaking her head. "It won't be until I see it with my own eyes. Where _is it?"_

Irelia gulped, "Riven—"

Her hands shot to Irelia's arms, holding her tight, "Where's my sword, _friend?_" She asked, her eyes widening even more, as if such a thing were possible, "Where is my sword and why is everyone telling me it's gone?"

Fear for her sanity was starting to take over, "Riven—"

"_Where is it!?" _She asked, desperately, "_Where is my blade!?"_

"_It's gone!" _Irelia said, quickly giving the information up under the stress of having Riven shaking her and madly interrogating her, "It's gone." She repeated, more calmly, "It's been destroyed in battle."

She stared at Riven as she watched her in silence, frozen in time and space for a few seconds.

And then, completely out of nowhere, Riven started laughing, loudly.

"You're funny!" She said, slowly calming down, "But my blade cannot be destroyed," She smiled, "Now tell me where is it, before I get angry."

Irelia shook her head. "It's gone, Riven."

Riven shook her head, a pleasant smile on her lips, "It isn't."

"But it _is_," Irelia said, shifting on her seat. "And you know it is. Deep inside, you know it."

Riven frowned, shaking her head a bit, letting out a quiet, "No…"

"Riven," Irelia said in a soft voice, placing a hand on the former Noxian's cheek, "Search for it in your head. You've seen it happen."

Riven frowned, her eyes unfocusing as she slowed to a stop, freezing again.

She saw something, through her mind's eye.

A warrior with big gauntlets, punching her relentlessly as she protected herself with her blade.

The battlefield was weird; Riven didn't know where she was standing, but she could feel the agony of it, the pain of fighting, the pleasure of striking.

She loved all of it, adored it all.

But then the brawler punched her into the air and jumped to follow her.

Then she brought her blade to protect herself.

Then those fists came down and—

"No," Riven said, shaking her head. "It didn't happen."

Irelia nodded her head, "It did, Riven." She said, stroking the woman's cheek, "It got destroyed."

"That cannot happen," Riven said, slowly starting to look desperate again. "Not to me."

"But it did."

"No," Riven said, a nervous laugh coming out as she shook her head, "It just can't—"

But then Irelia's hands were both on her face, refocusing her on the Ionian as she said, "Riven."

"It can't be true."

Irelia sighed, "But it is."

Riven kept negating it had happened, shaking her head and trying to reason with Irelia, telling her it just couldn't happen, but the Ionian's patience was endless as she kept telling her, as calmly as she could, that it had.

It wasn't any less heartbreaking, though.

"It just cannot be possible—"

"Riven," Irelia said, forcing her to make eye contact with her. "Your blade _is gone."_

Is gone.

"It's gone." Irelia repeated, trying to drive the point home.

She had succeeded.

Riven froze, "It's gone," She repeated, her eyes drifting away from Irelia's before coming back, "It's gone." She said, looking like she was ready to cry. "It's—"

But then she was screaming, falling back on the mattress, her hands on her ears as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Irelia watched her, concerned and afraid.

"_Forgive me!" _Riven roared, madly, "_Please, forgive me!"_

Irelia couldn't do more than watch.

"_I know I failed!" _Riven kept going, "_But please," _Her voice cracked, "_Forgive me!"_

It was then that Irelia realized.

Riven wasn't alone.

She was never alone, never had been.

The ghosts of her past followed her everywhere.

And now, without her blade, they were more alive than ever.

"_Please!" _She kept screaming at them, tears coming out of her eyes. "_I know I'm to blame, but please!"_

But then, at those words, she stopped.

No more crying, no more squeezing, no more trashing.

She opened her eyes, as if she had just been told a shocking truth.

Her eyes moved to Irelia's.

The Ionian feared what her ghastly informants may have told her.

"You wanted my blade destroyed."

Irelia shook her head. "That's not true."

How good a liar was she?

What a bad time to not know.

"You did," Riven said, incorporating once more, "They told me."

She was afraid to ask, but, "Who told you?"

"_Everyone."_

And the sadness and negation were gone, replaced by something else.

"Why did you want it broken? Why did you help the fighter destroy it?"

Fury.

Irelia was suddenly hyper aware of the nightstand to her side, the syringes resting on it.

"I didn't—"

"_But you did!" _Riven shouted.

"Riven—"

The Noxian quickly pushed her down against the bed and got on top of her. "_Why did you do it!?" _She forced Irelia to stare into her eyes, "_You're to blame! Why did you do it!?"_

Irelia's hand darted to the nightstand.

"_Why did you do it!?" _Riven screamed, her hands coming to rest on Irelia's neck—

She felt Riven's body stiffen as she stabbed her neck with a syringe, quickly pushing its' contents into her body.

She watched as the Noxian slowly gave up, her strength abandoning her, her eyes getting droopy, before finally falling under the sedative's spell, her body limp on top of hers.

Irelia stayed there, frozen, letting her breathing slow down, her heart go back to a more human speed.

Once she was able to calm down, she moved Riven's body from her position on top of her and got up, taking her phone out of her pocket.

She opened Vi's contact and typed out her message;

_Changed my mind about drinking._

It wasn't too long before Vi opened the message, evident on the small _Seen _she could read underneath her own message.

She saw that the brawler was typing and, instantly, she saw her reply on the screen;

_On my way._

* * *

Author's note:

Blue jeans... white shirt...

Hi babies! I am BACK! Sorry for disappearing for so long, it's just that Uni (film shooting + my thesis) was kicking my ass and needed to focus on that, so I took a break from absolutely everything except that :)

But now I'm here and I'm ready to bring all the drama! lmfao I love y'all.

Let me know what you think in the comments!


	24. By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried

Vi had arrived in no time, her eyes locked on Irelia's stressed expression as she made her way into the safehouse, locking the door behind her, before moving towards the fridge and grabbing them a drink each.

No questions asked, no words exchanged, Irelia grabbed her can and opened it, watching Vi do the same, before the Enforcer said, "Bottoms up," and they both brought their drinks to their lips..

She hated it, but she kept downing the liquid until all of it was down her throat and it was only then that she put the can down on the table.

"This is _still _disgusting," She announced to Vi with a grimace, before motioning for the woman to give her another one.

Vi finished her own without pulling a face like Irelia, before licking her lips clear from the liquid and pulling out two other cans from the fridge, "It will keep being disgusting up until some point in which you'll realize you suddenly don't give a fuck about it." She opened her can as Irelia opened hers, "Now, drink up."

"Cheers," Irelia said, before taking a sip and putting it down.

Vi mimicked her, letting a few seconds go by before asking, "So, will you tell me what happened or should I wait until you're drunk and ask again?"

"Riven woke up." She quickly said, before taking another sip from her beer.

"And she didn't have anything _nice _to say, did she?"

Irelia shook her head. "She asked me where her blade was and once I told her it was gone, she lost her wits."

Vi frowned, "And how did you knock her out? Did you punch her lights out or..." She asked, her eyes wandering to the former Noxian.

Irelia watched as Vi's eyes widened."I se—"

"I can tell you sedated her." Vi cut her off.

Irelia frowned, "How…?" She turned to look at Riven.

Her eyebrows shot to her hairline when she saw the syringe's needle that was still stuck in her neck.

"You didn't pull it out," Vi pointed out, before walking towards Riven and pulling the needle out of her neck, letting out a loud, "_You emptied the whole thing into her neck!?"_

Fear gripped Irelia's heart. "Maybe I did?" She swallowed saliva, "Is it bad?"

Vi slowly turned around, a bewildered expression on her face as her eyes went from the empty syringe to Irelia's eyes, before letting out a loud laugh.

Irelia simply watched her.

"_You gave her a dose big enough to put the whole fucking city to sleep!"_

It didn't tell Irelia whether she had just killed Riven with sedatives or not, so it certainly did nothing to put her at ease.

Vi managed to calm down a bit, so she wiped a tear from her eye before saying, "You drugged her hard enough I bet even her ancestors are sedated, but she will be fine." She chuckled, trying not to laugh, "She will be waking up in a month, maybe two, but it will be okay, she won't lose any of the braincells she still owns."

Irelia sighed in relief, "You scared me there for a second." She said, before taking a big gulp of her drink, if only to push down the fear.

It didn't taste as bad as it did a few seconds ago.

Irelia started to understand the whole drinking beer thing.

"I'm sorry, I guess it's my fault," Vi said, walking back to her spot between the fridge and the counter. "I never told you the sedative is ridiculously strong."

"Now I know." Irelia said, taking another sip.

"That's good to hear." Vi said, before placing the syringe on the counter and mimicking Irelia's drinking. "So, what _exactly _happened that suddenly you decided to get wasted? You don't seem like the kind of person who'd deal with shit through alcohol."

"Because I'm not." Irelia said, taking another sip, "She woke up and asked me where her blade was." She looked pained, "She refused to believe me when I told her it was gone."

Vi was frowning, "She just woke up and was like _hey Irelia where the fuck is my blade_?"

"No," Irelia replied, "It was more like _hey stranger, where's my blade?"_

"_Stranger?"_

Irelia nodded, "She didn't know who I was. Couldn't remember me."

Vi's brows shot up, "Okay, that's…"

"Bad." Irelia filled in the blank for her.

Vi nodded, "Yeah, _bad." _She echoed, before taking another sip, "And what happened then?"

"She refused to believe me for a while, before screaming at some voices in her head to _forgive her." _She ignored the wide-eyed look Vi was giving her, "And then those voices must have told her that _I _broke her blade, which is not entirely false, so she got angry at me, tried to attack me and then I stabbed her with the syringe and put her to sleep."

Vi blinked once, twice, then she said, "So she woke up, unable to remember anything but her blade, then asked you about it, then refused to believe you, then _argued with some voices in her head, which told her you broke her blade, _then tried to kill you, then you drugged her?"

Irelia nodded, "That's about it."

Vi was frozen in place for a few seconds, before letting out a low whistle. "Girl, she's _crazy, _but like, _seriously crazy."_

Irelia sighed, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger. "She's not _crazy, _she's just—"

"Fucked up." Vi cut her off.

"Broken, but not beyond repair." Irelia corrected, insisted.

"I remember you telling me that, before."

She shrugged, "I firmly believe it."

Vi raised a brow, "I can tell." She took a gulp of her drink, "So, the magic which she was under really is strong, then, if it makes her forget things and _hear voices."_

"I believe it makes her see things, too."

Vi raised both brows for a second, before making a wild face, "Oh boy," She said, before downing what remained of her can. "You're in for a treat, Irelia."

She nodded, sighing, before downing what remained of her drink, too, "I know. She's a whole deal."

"And yet you stick with her."

She missed the way Vi smirked.

"And yet I stick with her." She echoed, lost in her mind as she watched Riven, asleep.

"So Caitlyn was right," Vi announced as she grabbed them another couple of drinks, "When she said she's going through the stages of grief."

Irelia eyed her curiously as she accepted the beer, "The stages of grief?"

"Yeah," Vi said, "You know; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance." She smirked, "You've seen denial and anger, already."

"I think she's _stuck _in anger." Irelia joked, humorlessly.

"I don't know if _stuck, _but she goes back to it every once in a while, I bet."

Irelia sighed, "This is going to be _long."_

"I doubt that," Vi said, making the woman look at her, "I mean, she's already beyond denial, so I think she progresses fast, but she _is _hard to deal with, considering how far gone she is," She drank a bit of her beer, "Her mind having been eaten by the runic magic, it's only expected for the process to be _violent, _but not necessarily _slow."_

Irelia's eyes wandered from the pink haired woman to the former Noxian, "I hope you're right. I mean, I cannot change the violence in her, so at least let's make this as quick as possible."

"Do you want to change the violence in her, though?"

Irelia looked at her, "When it hurts her, like it's doing right now? Yes." She frowned at the way Vi smiled at her, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," She commented, gasping when she saw Irelia roll her eyes at her. "What was that?"

"I rolled my eyes at you."

"You _rolled your eyes at me?" _She pretended to be hurt when she saw Irelia nod her head, "I think someone's already feeling the alcohol's effect."

Irelia chuckled, "Do you really think that?"

"How often do you drink when in Ionia?"

"Never."

"Then it's definitely getting to you, already." Vi said with a wide smile, "I'm getting Captain Lito tipsy!"

Irelia was trying not to laugh, failing to keep a straight face, "I am _not _tipsy." She announced, a serious look on her face, which disappeared after holding Vi's stare for a second, giving way to a bellowing laugh.

"You definitely are, after only _two full beers," _Vi laughed at her, "You're unbelievable."

"I am _not!"_

"Come here and prove it." Vi said, knowing better.

Irelia got up from the stool, her eyes widening as she did so, before quickly sitting down again, "How about we don't do that?"

And that sequence was all it took for Vi to lose her mind, laughing, "You _are!"_

Irelia rolled her eyes, but she was fighting to keep a smile from her face, "Okay, maybe a little bit, let me be!"

Vi tried to stop laughing, "Oh, I let you be, don't worry." She said, smiling hard. "I'm just witnessing it all."

"Whatever," Irelia said, drinking some more.

"So, will you tell me what the deal is between you and Noxian girl over there?"

Irelia eyed Vi, "Define _deal."_

"You know," Vi said, shrugging, slowly bringing her beer up to her lips, "Why you're here in Zaun, how you guys met, whether you fucked her yet or not…" She took a sip, trying not to laugh at the wild look on Irelia's face at her last question, "That kind of stuff."

"As if I'd tell you all of that!" Irelia complained, "I barely know you."

"Oh, but I told you about me," Vi said, walking towards Irelia and taking a seat next to her, her back to the counter, "I think it's only fair you share your childhood traumas with me, after that."

Irelia raised a brow, hiding her mouth behind her can, "No one asked you to share anything with me."

"You asked me questions, I gave you answers."

"Okay, okay," Irelia said after taking a sip, "But you weren't forced to answer." She frowned, "Why would you share so much information, anyway?"

Vi shrugged, "I used to be more reserved, before meeting Cait. Didn't have many people I could trust." She took a big gulp, "Now it's different, I can see Caitlyn has kind of changed me." She then turned to Irelia, "And I even told you about how I like my boss! Come on, isn't that deserving of, at least, a bit of information regarding you and the Sleeping Beauty?"

Irelia groaned, "It's a _long _story."

"Well, we've got until she wakes up for you to tell me."

A beat.

Irelia got serious for long enough to ask, "Is she really going to wake up in a month?"

Vi laughed at that, "A day, maybe two, but that's it."

"Okay," Irelia said, nodding her head, sighing in relief, "Good."

"So, can you tell me about you two?"

Irelia turned around, resting her back against the counter, like Vi did, both of them watching Riven, "We met a long time ago, in a war."

Vi raised her eyebrows suggestively, "That's oddly romantic—"

"She was trying to kill me and enter my city."

Vi's mirth died out. "Oh." A second of silence, then, "Kinky."

Irelia shoved her shoulder, "Vi!" She scolded her, laughing at the brawler's contagious laughter.

"Keep telling me the story!"

So Irelia obliged and, beer after beer she told her about how she met Riven during that war.

How they met once more, after time had passed.

How she invited her back, for she felt the need to search for closure with the former Noxian.

How they slowly grew closer.

How they found out more and more about what had happened the night they had met.

How they decided to find answers and travelled to Noxus.

How they escaped, going to Zaun due to _an anonymous informant's _suggestion.

How they found Piltover's duo, instead.

Then the blade.

The hospital.

The safehouse.

An hour, maybe two, only talking about their story.

Irelia finished what remained of her fifth —was it the fifth? —beer, going slower than Vi, always finishing her beer when it was already warm.

She didn't care about the taste anymore.

"You were right, by the way," She said, her words slurred, "This shit doesn't taste like shit anymore."

Vi was slowing down her drinking, if only to avoid making Irelia feel like she should rush, "I told you it'd happen, eventually." She said, a smug smirk on her lips. "So, that explains how you met and why you're here, but what's up between you two?"

"Nothing's up—"

"Don't give me that bullshit because I won't buy it." Vi said, looking at her with a bored expression. "I _saw _the way you look at her."

Irelia raised a brow, "Like I'm afraid she's about to eat my head?"

"Like you want her to eat other parts of you—" She laughed when Irelia punched her arm_, _"Oh, come on! You know it's true!"

But Irelia wasn't really laughing. "Cut it out."

Vi didn't have to be told twice. "Fine," She agreed, "But still." She wouldn't let it rest. "You can't tell me she's _just your friend."_

"She _is _only my friend, though," Irelia replied, watching the sleeping Noxian.

"Do you want her to be _only _your friend?" Vi asked her, earning a glare, "I know I don't want Caitlyn to be _just my boss, _but I cannot help it." She confessed, opening up once more, if only to make the other woman do the same.

Irelia's glare softened, before she looked at Riven again and sighed, "I used to hate her." She started, "I used to blame her for everything bad that's ever happened to me. Then I started to know her better," She inhaled and exhaled slowly and deeply, a sign for the brawler that the Ionian was completely drunk, "And I started to hate the fact that I couldn't hate her anymore, I couldn't blame her for everything anymore, because I started to…" She looked for a correct way of saying it, "I started to not mind her." She sighed, "Then I started to enjoy her presence. Then I didn't know when she had become my friend, but she was always there and I started to _care_."

Vi shifted on her seat, watching Irelia for a second before asking her, "And was it around that time, when you started to feel attracted to her, or did that come after?"

It was a bold move on her behalf, but...

"It was around that time, I think," Irelia confessed, suddenly feeling like drinking another beer, "We'd train together and, sometimes, it'd be a bit hard, pretending I'm not aware of how toned her body is, or ignoring the fact that _I know _I could easily get addicted to her underneath or above me."

"I'd bet _above _you."

Irelia looked at Vi.

There was no anger in the way she looked at her, but she felt _seen _by the brawler_, _in a way.

"I'd bet above me, too."

Vi nodded her head slowly, finishing off her drink. "So you like her."

Irelia nodded, "I like her."

"Have you told her yet?"

"Not yet."

"Why not?"

"Because the circums…" She failed to say the word properly, "The circumstances make it a really untimely thing." She tried once more, her tongue slower than she'd like.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means that this is not the right time nor the right place for me to tell her I want her deep inside—"

"_Okay," _Vi cut her off, "But _why _isn't it? What better time than _now? _What better place than away from everyone who might oppose?" She reasoned, not as drunk as Irelia, "Nobody knows who you are here in Zaun, so you might as well just go ahead and take the leap here and now."

"Haven't you been listening to what I've told you?" Irelia asked her, "We're here, trying to catch a guy who used to be her _friend, _because he tried to get her _killed _in the middle of a war." She wasn't angry at Vi, but there was a certain animosity to her voice, "This is certainly _not _the time nor the place for me to tell her anything like that. Duty first, anything else second."

"Okay, fine, I can see your point," Vi said, unable to not see how Irelia and Caitlyn were, in a way, the exact same person, "But I still think you should tell her." Vi shrugged, "I mean, she totally likes you back, so there's nothing to lose—"

"You don't know that."

Vi snorted, "Yeah, right. Irelia, I've been around her being conscious and not insane for, what? Five minutes? And I can already tell that—"

"You don't know her, nor the way she acts around everyone." And then, when she remembered the sadness Riven had felt upon not being able to bid Diana farewell, she added, "And I believe she's interested in someone else."

"I don't know how she acts, because I don't need to," Vi said, completely ignoring her comment about Riven liking someone else, "She clearly likes you, too. Woman up and just kiss her when she's back in control of her own brain."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "When _all of this is over, _I'll see what I do about my attraction to her. Until then, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Are you afraid she won't want to kiss you back?"

Irelia glared at her. "I'm not afraid of nonsense like that."

"Then _what is—"_

"You're starting to get on my nerves." Irelia warned, "I already told you what you wanted to know; wrong time, wrong place, so now let it rest."

Vi raised both her eyebrows, "Okay, just don't act all surprised when she ends up in your bed, telling you how she wanted you badly since day one."

Irelia looked annoyed, "Enough of that." She then frowned at Vi, "Give me another beer."

"Oh, no." Vi refused, shaking her head, "You're not drinking anymore."

Irelia's eyes widened, "What? Why not!?"

"Because it's all fun and games until you drink more than your body can handle and end up with your face down the toilet, throwing up your guts, me holding your hair while you do so."

Irelia pouted, but that —currently small —part of her brain in charge of her common sense made a note to thank Vi, later. "Fine."

"Hey, don't get like that!" Vi said, throwing all the empty cans into the trashcan, "We can still have fun."

"How so?" Irelia asked, watching as Vi grabbed two shot glasses and a jar of water from the fridge.

"We can play some sort of drinking game, minus the drinking." Vi offered, putting the tiny glasses in between them as she took her spot on the other side of the counter. "Trust me, you're drunk enough for this to be fun anyway."

Irelia rolled her eyes, "Okay," She agreed, her hand shooting towards the shot glass as Vi poured them both some water in it. "What's the game?"

"It's very simple," Vi said, a smile on her lips, "You say something you've never done and if—"

"_Never have I ever?" _Irelia asked, cutting her off, "I _know _how that game goes, Vi. We _do _have drinking games in Ionia, I'll have you know."

Vi laughed, "Okay, Miss _I-know-it-all-about-drinking-games," _Irelia rolled her eyes at that, "You first."

Irelia narrowed her eyes, as if deep in thought. "Never have I ever…" She hummed, deep in thought. "Never have I ever crushed on my boss."

Vi glared at her, "Ha, ha, so funny." She downed the glass and refilled it, "Never have I ever crushed on my enemy."

Irelia looked at her with a bored expression and downed her glass, watching as Vi refilled it, smiling smugly. "Never have I ever crushed on a woman named Caitlyn."

"Oh, come on!" Vi complained, watching as Irelia laughed out loud, "That's ridiculous!"

Irelia had tears in her eyes, "Drink."

Vi stifled a laugh and downed the glass, refilling it as she said, "Never have I ever crushed on a woman named Riven."

Irelia downed the drink, nodding her head, "I saw that one coming. Never have I ever crushed on a Piltie—"

"_Enough _of this madness," Vi cut her off, laughing, "Ask me something else that does _not _involve Caitlyn."

Irelia laughed, "But these are fun!"

"But they're all the same! Ask me something else."

"Fine!" Irelia agreed, sighing dramatically, "Let me think." She concentrated, "Never have I ever…" She eyed Vi, "Never have I ever been in a street fight."

They both downed their glasses at that.

"Now this is more fun," She said, smirking, "Never have I ever killed a person."

They both downed their glasses.

"Okay, this is turning dark very quickly," Irelia warned, "Never have I ever…" She thought hard about it, "Never have I ever kicked a guy in the balls."

Having not expected that, Vi laughed out loud, before downing her glass. "Okay, I see. Never have I ever given anyone a wedgie."

Irelia laughed at it, but she didn't drink, while Vi did. "Never?"

Irelia smiled, "Never ever."

"Oh, come on!"

"Never have I ever drooled over someone's shirt."

Vi drank, Irelia did not.

The brawler stared into Irelia's eyes, "Never have I ever licked someone's neck."

They both drank.

Irelia saw the way Vi's eyes had darkened. "Okay, I see." She said, acknowledging the shift, the change in course, "Never have I ever had my neck licked by someone else."

They both drank, once more.

"Let me push it," Vi dared, "Never have I ever slept with someone else."

Irelia looked at her bored, as if rather offended by the implied question.

They both drank.

She smirked, "Never have I ever slept with my boss."

Neither drank, Vi looking mockingly annoyed, the look disappearing when she said, "Never have I ever slept with a woman."

And both of them drank.

Vi raised her brows, "Really?"

Irelia replied by saying, "Never have I ever slept with a man."

And neither drank.

Vi raised her eyebrows, "I thought you had never been with a woman, before."

"I've only been with women."

"Oh," She smirked, "_Women,_ _plural._"

Irelia rolled her eyes, "Yes, _plural."_

"Tell me about it."

Irelia shook her head, "I don't think so."

"Oh, come on, Irelia," Vi said, smirking, "Were they Ionians?"

Irelia raised her brow, "This is the first time I'm out of Ionia, what do you think?"

She was still smiling, "And how are Ionians in bed?"

Irelia rolled her eyes, "I'm not asking you about the women you've slept with, so I think I'm allowed not to answer."

"I'd tell you everything about them, if you wanted."

Irelia glared, but there was no malice there, "I don't want to know." She said, which made Vi chuckle, shaking her head. "What?"

"You're just like Caitlyn."

"Because I don't want to know about your sexual rendezvous?" She asked, watching Vi nod, laughing at it, "Oh, Vi, you're a fool if you think Caitlyn wouldn't want to know."

She hadn't expected that. "What?"

"Caitlyn and I are quite alike, right?" Vi nodded, "Well, that means I can read her better than you do." She smirked, "I'm really perceptive."

"And yet you cannot tell Riven's in too deep for you."

She blushed, glaring at Vi as she said, "Hush, we're not talking about that."

Vi clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, "This is _exactly _what I meant, before I left." She saw Irelia raise a brow, "When you told me my attraction towards Cailtyn was evident, but you didn't think it was _that _way. I said it explained a lot about you."

Irelia managed to remember that. "You did."

"You _are _perceptive, I'm not saying you're blind to these things, but you're unable to see people's true intentions," She smirked, "You can see how Riven acts, but you're unable to see it's because she's into you."

Irelia glared at her. "I know exactly when someone's trying to mess with me."

"Okay, you're able to sense when someone's ill intentioned, but not when they want to bed you."

"Oh, shut up." Irelia brushed her off, "You say that as if you could read everyone like they were open books, but you can't tell Caitlyn is into you."

Vi almost bit her own tongue, "What?"

Irelia nodded once, a knowing look all over her expression, "She's attracted to you, but she's into the whole power dynamic where she's on top and you're underneath her."

Vi's mouth was hanging open, "That's certainly _not _true."

"Oh, it is." Irelia said, nodding her head vigorously. "But you can't see it because you still don't understand your own boss." She raised a brow, "How long have you been working together?"

"Long enough for me to know her and know you're lying."

"Then I'm right and you still don't understand your own boss."

"How would you know this, then?" Vi asked, incredulously.

Irelia started drinking water from the bottle, "Because I'm like her." She took a big gulp, "She likes playing hard to get but she's really into you and probably fantasizes about giving you orders in a scenario different to an office." She then thought about it, "Or maybe she wants to give you _those orders _in, specifically, _her _office."

Vi was red, her mind _actually _conjuring up those thoughts. "You can't be actually serious."

And Irelia was smirking, "I am, though."

"It's _impossible—"_

"Look, act a bit cold towards her for a day or two and then tell me how she reacts to that." She had an idea, then, "Actually, stop calling her _Cupcake _for a whole day. That'll do the trick. She'll be weirded out by it."

Vi scoffed, "Yeah, because I do it all the time. It's only logical."

"No, logical would be for her to be _pleased _by the lack of _Cupcakes _coming from you." Irelia retorted, "But she won't be pleased, she'll be _weirded out."_

Vi rolled her eyes, but Irelia could tell she was thinking about it. "Sure."

"Trust me, I never fail to read people." Irelia said, a smug look on her lips.

She almost flinched when she saw Vi's expression mirror hers, "Oh, really? You're good at reading people?"

She felt the need not to lose whatever battle they had just gotten into. "Very much so."

Vi leaned over the table, "And can you read _me _that easily?"

Irelia nodded her head, "I can, actually."

Vi chuckled, "I doubt you can, honestly."

"Try me."

She regretted saying that the moment she said it, as she watched Vi's eyes grow dark.

Vi's hand shot to the back of Irelia's neck and held her there as she leaned in too close.

She didn't dare move. "What are you doing—"

V's hand moved to the front of Irelia's neck, holding tight enough for the Ionian not to move, but not hard enough that it hurted her, trapping Irelia, leaning in as close as humanly possible without reaching contact, "Letting you get a closer look."

"Move closer and I'll be forced—"

"To kiss me?"

"To kick your ass." Irelia said, smirking.

"You're funny, you _actually think _you can beat me up," Vi said, smiling at the girl, but leaning a bit backwards, " I think you'd have you and I could have a lot of fun together."

Her tone was light.

She was not forcing Irelia.

She was _inviting _her.

"Maybe," A kind of melancholic look taking over her, Irelia sighed. "But you're not the one I want to have fun with."

And she was trying to look at Vi, but her eyes darted towards Riven, if only to drive the point harder into her brain.

Not because Riven was the one she wanted. Of course not.

Vi lolled her head to a side, "I mean, you're not the one I want to have fun with either, if we go by that logic." She raised a brow. "But _oh, well."_

"It's not that simple."

Vi leaned closer again, but this time, to get a better look into Irelia's eyes as she narrowed her own.

Then she said, "You love her."

And it had not been a question.

Irelia frowned, "We don't know that."

"I think that _not knowing _is a big enough indicator of whether you do or not."

Irelia glared, "I _don't know _it."

And she truly meant it, she didn't know it.

But apparently Vi knew better, for there was a smug look on her face as she pulled away, "Okay," She said, before walking towards the long couch and throwing herself on it. "I'm going to sleep here tonight, I don't think it'd be wise to drive back to Piltover and be pulled over by my _boss, _me being _drunk."_

"Okay," Irelia said, yawning as she did so, only just then feeling the exhaustion the day left on her shoulders, "Where do I sleep, though?"

Vi's head popped up from behind the couch's backrest, a bored expression on her face, "We could share the sofa. I'm not going to take advantage of you, you know?"

Irelia made an exasperated face, "I never said that!"

"You thought it."

"Vi that's not—" She saw Vi smirking, trying to keep laughter from leaving her lips, the whole thing having been an act, "You're insufferable!"

"I've heard that same thing, before." Vi said, before they both went mute as they heard Riven mumble something incomprehensible in her sleep, shifting and moving around a bit, before going silent again.

A thought hit Vi and she frowned.

"Okay, maybe she _could _wake up while we're asleep," She looked at Irelia, "Are you a light sleeper?"

Irelia nodded, "Yeah, unfortunately."

"Good," Vi said, "Then sleep next to her."

She had not expected that. "What?"

"I'm a heavy sleeper and we need someone to wake up the moment she does, if she wakes before us." Vi laid back down and Irelia couldn't see her anymore, only hear her as she said, "Considering that, I'm definitely the worst option to stay close to her, so you should take that spot. If she moves too much she'll wake you and that way we'll make sure she isn't left alone."

Irelia could actually see the logic behind her words, but after having said what she felt out loud, finally acknowledging it in front of someone else and, therefore, giving it _shape, _bringing it into _reality…_

She felt weird about it, to say the least.

_Still, Vi is right._

_You should sleep with her, if only to keep an eye on her._

_Only because of that._

So, hesitant still, Irelia walked towards the bed and laid down next to Riven, her eyes on the Noxian's face as she slept.

* * *

She couldn't remember falling asleep. It was as if she had blinked and suddenly, at some point, her eyes opened no more.

But now they were wide open.

They had to be, for Riven was perched atop her, nudging her shoulder, mumbling a quiet, "Wake up. Hey, wake up," Trying to catch her attention, stopping only when the Ionian's blue eyes locked on hers.

Still green.

"You're alive." Riven mumbled.

Irelia blinked hard, trying to fight the thick, dizzy headache she was forced to deal with.

_Damn you, Vi. You and your stupid beers._

"Barely," She joked, her voice croaky, "But I am."

"I thought I had killed you."

Irelia slowly tried to sit up, Riven giving her room as she moved, "Yeah, it didn't work."

Riven studied her, making the Ionian more and more uncomfortable with her neutral expression. "I failed."

Irelia nodded, seeing Riven's temporary calmness as something she could maybe use to her benefit, "You failed, but why do you want to kill me, anyway? I'm your _friend, _Riven." She placed her hand on the Noxian's shoulder, "I can help you."

"Help me with what?"

And there had been a certain bite to her tone.

It made Irelia uneasy.

"I asked you some—"

The Ionian quickly tackled Riven down, straddling her and holding her in place against the mattress, using her body to keep her there, her hand coming up to Riven's mouth to keep her from screaming as the Noxian trashed around, trying to release herself from Irelia.

Irelia hissed as Riven bit her hand, hard, making the Ionian uncover it, but still holding Riven down.

"What the Hell are you doing!?"

"You're going to attack me, aren't you?" Irelia asked her urgently in a hushed voice, ignoring the pain her body was under. "You're going to try to kill me _again_, all because of your _stupid blade!"_

"So it was true, what they said." Riven said, her voice rather gentle, despite the alarm in her green eyes, "You broke my blade."

Irelia nodded her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she did so, "I did."

Riven fought against her grip, but it wasn't as strong as before, "Why?"

"Because it was hurting you," Irelia told her, "And I didn't want to let it keep doing that."

Riven looked _devastated. _"But my sword is a part of me, I am _nothing _without it!"

"You are more than your blade." Irelia tried, "You are more than just—"

"I'm _nothing _without it," Riven repeated, looking desperate as she shook her head, all will to fight gone from her body, "How can I be a soldier if I don't have my weapon?" She looked into Irelia's eyes, her own filled with tears, "How can I fight for them, fulfill their wishes, if my sword is _gone?"_

"Fight for _who?"_

"For _them!" _Riven said, looking all around, "For all of them!" She couldn't understand, "Can't you see them?"

It broke Irelia's heart.

"Riven," Her grip softened, "There's no one there."

Riven looked frightened. "What…?"

Irelia released her, slowly helping her back to a sitting position. "Look around and try to focus," She ordered the woman in a soft voice, "It's only us in here."

Riven looked like she didn't want to bother giving it a shot, too lost in her own fears to do so.

So Irelia sat behind Riven, coming close enough so that her head was on the Noxian's shoulder and, gently, she told her again, "Look around with me," She said, her hand coming to Riven's chin and making her head turn slowly, "We're in a room stuffed with a _lot _of things, but there's no one else here. Only you and I."

She noticed Riven shutting her eyes closed, squeezing them, her hands coming up to rub them, those unshed tears finally coming down and leaving tracks on their wake as she reopened them and realized one thing.

Her _friend _was right.

There was no one there.

"It can't be…" She mumbled, "I, I saw them, I saw the Crimson Elite and the Noxian army and—"

"Riven."

The Noxian's head turned towards the Ionian's, who shook it slowly.

"They're all gone."

That seemed to make an alarm go off in her head. "Gone?"

"They're dead."

Riven looked away, her eyes unfocusing as she thought.

As she _remembered._

She remembered a fight.

She remembered _many _fights.

A war.

Fire.

Tears started to come down, her voice watery as she mumbled, "They're all gone…"

Then she remembered a woman.

Her breath hitched as she turned to look at Irelia once more.

"I know you."

Irelia froze.

Riven seemed aware of the fact that her memory was not working properly.

"You were there, when they died."

She tried to keep calm. "I was."

Riven was frowning, focusing on her memories. "You and I," She started, "We were fighting." Irelia opened her mouth to speak, but then Riven said, "Against each other."

Irelia stared into Riven's eyes, her lip quivering as she tried to come up with something to say, "I—"

"You're _Ionian." _Riven said, turning to fully look at Irelia.

There was no anger behind those green eyes.

No anger, but something else.

_Recognition, maybe?_

It all took Irelia back to the maze.

_My mind is a maze, _Riven had confessed to her, many moons ago.

And Irelia knew she was the only one aware of it, the only one willing to navigate it in the dark.

The only one besides Riven who could walk in it.

Irelia nodded her head, slowly, "I am."

"You're my _enemy."_

"I _used _to be," Irelia corrected her, "But then we became friends. Do you remember?"

Riven closed her eyes, trying to focus on what Irelia had told her. "I was in a war and I fought against you." She opened her eyes, but wasn't looking at Irelia when she continued talking, "My friends got killed that day. So did yours, didn't they?"

"Yes," Irelia mumbled, trying not to remember any of them and failing, "They got killed, too."

"In a fire."

"In a fire, yes."

Riven's breathing was ragged, her hands shaking as she slowly brought them in front of her, studying them.

She gasped, her breathing quickening, her body feeling weak and trembling as she saw the burn scars all over her hands and forearms.

She shook her head, her breathing erratic—

"_Riven," _Irelia said, her tone a bit urgent as she cupped Riven's cheeks, making her look into her blue eyes, "It's okay. It's in the past."

Riven's eyes were glassy, tears coming out of them. "I was betrayed by my own men." Her lip was quivering, "My own men tried to _kill me."_

Irelia sighed, her thumbs wiping Riven's eyes, "They tried to kill me too," Irelia said, as if killing her was not the main purpose of the Noxian army that night, "But they failed. They failed at killing us." She offered the hint of a smile, "We are indestructible."

But Riven was having none of it, tears still coming out of her eyes as she said, "My body is fine, but how do you think I feel on the inside?" She shook her head, pushing Irelia's hands away, "I don't know who you are, where I am, why I'm here. All I know is that my men tried to kill me and my blade is gone!"

_Certainties help her walk around the maze._

"You broke your blade that night."

Riven's eyes widened. "I would never do that."

"But you _did," _Irelia said, "You broke it with your _own hands. _You didn't destroy it, _I did_, but you broke it into pieces."

Riven frowned, trying to make sense of Irelia's words, before her hands shot to her head, pressing against it as if she were having a migraine, painful groaning leaving her lips.

She leaned forwards and Irelia quickly caught her, the Noxian's head pressing against her shoulder, "What's the matter?"

"Tell me something," She said between gritted teeth, "If they're all gone, why can I still hear their complaints?"

"They've been with you for a while," Irelia told her, "Breaking your blade was the first step to making them all go away."

"Make them _stop!" _Riven begged, her fingers tangling themselves on white locks of hair and pulling from them, "Make them all _stop, please!"_

She didn't know exactly how to do that. "Riven—"

Riven's hands shot to Irelia's shoulders, "_Please—" _She stopped her begging, suddenly, as her eyes caught a glimpse of the amulet around Irelia's neck.

Her fingers twitched towards it, desperate to touch it.

She analyzed the symbol, her eyes running over it, her fingers turning it around time after time.

Recognition lit up green eyes as they looked into Irelia's, "Who gave you this?"

Irelia felt a lump in her throat. "You did."

Riven shook her head; that had not been the answer she wanted. "And who gave it to me?" Her breathing was still a bit ragged, "Who is she?" She asked, closing her eyes, "Silver hair and silver eyes. What's her name and why do I remember her?"

_Certainties turn on the lights in the maze._

_Give her the information she asks for._

"Her name is Diana," Irelia said, softly, "She's the Chosen of the Moon: one of the two leaders of the Empyrean."

"Diana…" Riven mumbled, her body, her mind, her _soul _calming down a bit at the sound of the Targonian's name. "She's a friend of mine, isn't she?"

"She is."

"She means a lot to me."

It had not been a question.

"She helped you when you needed it most, I think." Irelia mused out loud, earning a questioning look from Riven.

The former Noxian looked ready to say something, but then she brought a hand up to her head, again, groaning.

"Does it hurt?"

Riven nodded her head, "It does. Badly."

But she was not overreacting to it, like she had done before.

It was then when the brawler who was sleeping on the couch —who had been dead to the world until then, quiet enough and still enough that even Irelia forgot she was there —woke up, sitting up and letting out a groan as she stretched.

Both Riven and Irelia looked at her.

Vi opened her eyes and, lavender settling on green, she froze.

Irelia felt Riven tense up.

In just a second, just by looking at Vi, Riven remembered her.

Irelia may have been the one to push the blade to where it needed to be so as to be destroyed, but it had actually been _Vi _the one to _literally, technically _break it.

In just another second, she tried to lunge for her, a bestial roar coming out of her.

Despite the killer hangover she would eventually have to nurse, Irelia's reflexes proved to still be top notch, as she caught Riven and pushed her against the mattress, laying on top of the Noxian's back and holding her there by snaking one arm around her neck, her free hand shooting to the nightstand and grabbing another syringe.

As Riven trashed to escape her grip, Irelia pressed the needle against her neck, ignoring the Noxian's complaints as she shot _just a bit _of the sedative into her bloodstream, slowly releasing her once she felt the warrior give up, finally going limp.

"I'll guess she recognized me." Was all Vi could say.

Irelia groaned loudly at that. "_Why _is it that she remembers everyone, apparently, but _not me!?"_

Vi chuckled at that. "Maybe she's trying to forget you." She didn't have enough time to dodge the pillow Irelia threw at her face, full force, "Hey!"

"And how come you are _not _hungover!?"

"I wasn't _that _drunk." Vi said, raising a brow.

Irelia groaned loudly, letting herself fall on the bed.

Vi looked at her, then at Riven.

"What a bad timing I have for waking up, right?"

Irelia's reply was only another pillow being thrown at the pugilist's face.

* * *

A lack of sense of time was a feeling Irelia hated feeling, but it was the only thing she had felt for…

_What? Days? Weeks?_

How long had it been, since Riven lost her mind?

_Days? Weeks?_

_Or years?_

_Did she lose it that night, so long ago?_

_Did she lose it in Piltover?_

How long had it been, since Riven and her started hiding in Vi's safehouse?

And when had she last seen Vi?

Irelia sighed, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger.

She wasn't eating properly, wasn't resting properly, was only drinking properly, occasionally doing so with the pugilist as she came around and helped her cope with the Noxian, drinking away her problems, chatting and laughing before leaving Irelia alone to her devices, the Ionian preparing for when Riven next woke up.

The process was always the same: Deal with Riven, put her under if she got too violent, drink —sometimes with Vi —go sober once more, see Riven wake up, deal with her, put her under if she got too violent, and so on.

It didn't mean it was easy.

Riven was giving her a _Hell _of a time.

_And that's without counting the times she woke up and Vi was still around here._

Those times, Riven would lose her mind and automatically go violent.

_That _was the problem; Riven kept going back to violence.

Irelia was _hellbent _on helping the Noxian and she _wouldn't _give up, but she had to be honest; it was no easy task and it was taking its' toll on her, making her feel like giving up a bit more, day by day.

But she wouldn't.

She'd _die _before leaving Riven behind, to die by her own ghosts' hands.

The Noxian slowly started to remember a few things, but everything seemed distorted; no matter how many steps forwards Irelia managed to make her take, the ill magic that poisoned her mind always pushed her back, leaving her in the very first step every time.

Riven had denied the blade was broken.

She had gone violent about it, too.

Then she had asked Irelia to give it back to her, actually _begging _her for it, telling her she'd give her absolutely _anything _to recover it.

She had bounced from one state to the other, slowly making Irelia lose her own mind.

The good thing was the Ionian wasn't needing to put her under that often, anymore.

Only when Vi was around and Riven lost her wits. Apart from that, she'd just keep Riven company until the migraines and whatever other effects the runic magic had on her managed to knock her out.

Meanwhile, Irelia's whole body was in pain; her joints sore, a pounding headache making her wish she could just take her brain out of her skull, dark circles underneath her puffy-with-sleep eyes and bruises from a fight or two with the unpredictable Riven.

She was so close to giving up.

_But I can't._

And she wouldn't.

No matter how hard it was, she would keep on trying until one of them died; either Riven or her.

She would _still _try to make the woman come back to her senses.

She would endure her through those moments of violence, she would use those moments of peace to feed her and help her rest properly, trying to make her remember things.

She would. Somehow, she knew she would bring Riven back.

Even if it felt like a fool's errand, the last thing one always loses is hope.

And Irelia knew that, in that aspect, she was no different to any other human being.

She was sitting on the couch, staring at some muted show on the TV, paying no attention to it as she zoned out, unable to sleep but also unable to remain awake.

She felt dizzy, felt her eyes droopy…

Darkness _felt beautiful _as it took over, every time she closed her eyes.

She woke up from her dozing off with a start as she suddenly saw, in between her long blinking, Riven, sitting right in front of her, staring into her eyes.

Still green.

"Riven," She started, a hand moving to her heart, "You scared me."

_When did she wake up?_

"Why are you here?"

Irelia sighed, "I'm here because I'm helping you feel better."

"But _why _are you even _trying?" _Riven shook her head, "What's the _point? _What's there for you to win?"

Irelia noticed then that Riven looked _sad._

She remembered Vi mentioning _depression _as one of the stages of grief.

_If Riven is facing it now, then the only one missing is acceptance._

"There's nothing for me to win," Irelia told her, "But there's a lot to lose."

"What would you lose?"

"Well, you."

"We are _enemies, _Ionian." Riven said, standing up and walking away, into the studio. "You should leave me to die in here."

Because _that _was another thing that had happened, at some point; apparently, Riven had gone from _believing _the voices in her head to _fearing them, _convinced that they were trying to kill her.

Not that she was too wrong, though.

"I am not going to leave you, Riven." Irelia said, standing up and following her. "I'll be here and I'll help you feel better, no matter how long it takes."

"How long has it taken, already?"

Irelia shrugged, "Not long enough." Was all she could reply.

She watched Riven as she closed her eyes and squeezed them, shaking her head, her hands shooting to her head again.

She was having a migraine again, Irelia knew.

But then Riven was screaming, turning to Vi's desk and—

"What are you fucking doing!?" Irelia shouted at her, trying to catch her arm before she continued wrecking the things on the desk, throwing them around, to the ground and against the walls.

"What the fuck is _wrong with me!?" _Riven screamed back, tears on her cheeks as she turned to look at Irelia. "And _why the fuck do you bother!?"_

"Because I want to!" Irelia said, holding her by the wrists, "Because I want to bother! I want to help you!"

"_You fucking shouldn't!" _Riven screamed to her face, "I'm a _lost cause!"_

"You're not that to me!" Irelia roared, trying to get the message into her brain.

Riven went quiet, all of a sudden.

And then she said something Irelia hadn't expected her to say.

"Just kill me."

"What?" She couldn't believe it, "Riven—"

The Noxian grabbed her by the neck of her shirt, "Just _fucking kill me, already!" _She begged, tears in her eyes, "Please, just _end this."_

Irelia shook her head, desperation on her expression, "Riven, I can't do that."

"Yes, you _can!" _Riven roared, "You tried to do it once, of _course _you _fucking _can and you _will!"_

"No, Riven! I can't!"

"_Yes you can!" _Riven screamed, marching forwards and pushing Irelia against a wall, the Ionian's head hitting it hard. "Just fucking do everyone a favor and _kill me!"_

"I can't and I _won't _kill you, Riven!"

"_Why not!?" _The poisoned Noxian screamed at her, crying freely, madness clouding her judgement as the voices screamed and— "Why can't you just grab a sword and stab me in the heart!?" She pushed Irelia against the wall again, getting angrier at the Ionian's lack of animosity towards her, "Why can't you just rid the world of me and be done with it?" She inhaled deeply, her face red with the exertion of crying, of screaming, of losing her mind, and then she let it all out in a powerful scream, "_Why can't you just kill me!?"_

Irelia couldn't take it anymore.

She was going to lose her mind.

Riven wanted an answer, "_Why—"_

She got cut off by Irelia's lips crashing against hers.

The salty taste of both Riven's and her own tears invaded her mouth, but Irelia didn't care as she pressed her lips hard against Riven's, her hands shooting to the Noxian's head, holding her in place.

She released her after a few seconds, looking into Riven's puffy eyes, knowing her own to be just as swollen, for she was also crying, although more silently.

"Will that answer your fucking stupid questions, imbecile?" Irelia asked her, her voice trembling.

Riven was frozen in place, staring into her eyes.

Irelia watched her as she slowly started to sway, her eyelids droopy.

She knew that meant she was about to pass out.

But then she noticed it, the shift, as if she were staring at the same picture, but from a slightly different angle.

_I have felt like this, before._

The green didn't look as bright as before.

And as her body slowly gave up, Riven mumbled a faint, "_Irelia."_

Recognition.

The lights on her maze had been finally turned on.

And as those eyes started to close, as Irelia finally managed to see red where once green had been, Riven's body fell to the ground.

Limp.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

So, huh. That happened.


	25. From Instinct To Rational Control

The door to the safehouse banged against the wall as Vi opened it, "I came as fast as I could!" And rushed inside.

She moved towards Irelia, who was standing in the middle of the room, her eyes on the woman who laid on the ground, having fainted maybe fifteen minutes ago, her cellphone on her hand, Vi's messages open.

She had to give it to Vi; the brawler had arrived in virtually _no _time.

After Riven passed out, all Irelia had managed to do was open Vi's chat, call her, tell her to hurry there and hang up.

Fifteen minutes later, the pugilist materialized in the room, her hands on Irelia's cheeks, making her gaze finally move from the unconscious Noxian to her lavender eyes, "What happened here, Irelia?"

Irelia slowly shook her head, blinking fast and erratically, "I," Her eyes moved to Riven, "She woke up and I," Still shaking her head, she looked away again, at some spot on the ground, "She begged for it and I just, I don't know, I just," She looked at Vi again, her face slowly contorting into a pained expression, her eyes glassy. "I, she, I just," She shook her head and blinked hard, tears coming down, her bottom lip quivering.

Vi pulled her into an embrace, her arms around the woman's shoulders, "Hey, it's alright." Vi cooed, "It will be okay." She pulled away, looking into Irelia's eyes, "Go to the bathroom, wash your face, then sit on the couch. I'll bring you some cold water, okay?"

Irelia fought to keep her eyes on Vi's, but still nodded her head.

Vi mimicked her movement, "Okay, go."

So Irelia obeyed, going to the bathroom, trying not to look at the woman who was still unconscious on the floor.

She turned on the faucet and thoroughly washed her face as Vi picked Riven up from the ground and placed her on the bed.

Once she was done, she dried her face and walked to the couch, taking a seat, her eyes moving to Riven, before moving to Vi, who was walking back towards her, a tall glass of water on her hand. "Here," She said, handing it to Irelia, before sitting down next to her, close enough that her arm, which laid on top of the backrest, was placed behind Irelia's head, her thigh brushing against the Ionian's.

Irelia's hands were shaking, Vi noticed, as the woman brought the glass up to her lips and took a few sips.

She frowned as she noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "When was the last time you _actually _slept?"

"I can't remember."

Vi sighed, but said nothing.

Judging by what she already knew about the brawler, Irelia knew Vi's reaction to her statement meant two things: one, that she was disappointed by such a fact and wanted to scold her for it but she wouldn't because, two, she was waiting for the woman to tell her what had happened.

So Irelia sighed, rubbing her eyes with her thumb and index finger before finally beginning, "Riven woke up and asked me why I was helping her."

Vi frowned, "Well, that's new."

"Then she asked me to kill her."

Her eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"Guess she reached the _depression _stage of grief, huh?"

"I would say she did." Irelia said.

"And what happened after?"

"She lost her wits a bit," Irelia continued, a frown on her face. "She kept asking me to kill her and started to get a bit crazy." She looked up at Vi, "She may have thrown some things that were on your desk to the wall."

Vi's eyes darted to her desk, but she said nothing.

So Irelia went on, getting more and more nervous, evident on how her voice trembled, her lip quivered, her words stumbled upon each other. "She pushed me against the wall and kept begging for me to kill her, I kept telling her I couldn't and then she asked me _why _and I," She shook her head, "I just…" She searched for a word, "I just lost it—"

"What did you do—"

"I kissed her."

There, she finally said it.

She looked at Vi, whose eyes were already on the Ionian, wide, the brawler as still as the atmosphere around them.

Irelia stuttered as she shook her head, searching for something to say, "She was driving me crazy, I didn't know what to do and I wanted her to shut up but I didn't want to punch her so I just—"

"So you just decided to kiss her." Vi cut her off.

Irelia nodded. "Yeah, basically."

Vi nodded her head, her expression still wild. "And what happened after that?"

"I asked her if that answered _why _I couldn't kill her, then she started to feel dizzy so I guessed she was about to faint but, right before she passed out, she called my name."

Vi blinked slowly. "She called your name?"

Irelia nodded. "She said _Irelia, _then passed out."

"And then you called me and here we are."

Irelia nodded again. "Yes."

Vi and Irelia watched each other for a few seconds, in silence.

Then Vi was laughing, loudly.

It irritated the Ionian. "What are you laughing at, you—"

"True love's kiss and she wakes up from her nightmare? She _really is _the Sleeping Beauty, isn't she?" Vi said, before continuing to laugh.

"What the Hell do you mean—"

"I mean that you _kissed her _and she suddenly remembers you and everything is fine in the world? Come on," Vi said, rolling her eyes, "That's some movie thing."

"She remembered my name, but that doesn't mean that everything is fine, Vi." Irelia said, glaring at her. "She _passed out, _Vi."

"Okay," Vi conceded, "So she'll wake up, remembering you, and everything will be alright." She shrugged, "It's okay! I don't see the problem here."

"The problem is that every time she woke up after passing out, she was practically on step one of her recovery, Vi!" Irelia's voice slowly rose, "How am I supposed to actually believe that she'll wake up and remember me when she's forgotten where she was _every single time _she's woken up? How am I supposed to think that could be good, if it happens, anyway?" Her breathing was getting faster, "How am I—"

"_Hey,_" Vi started, a hand coming to Irelia's shoulder, "_Relax. _It will be alright, I promise."

"It _won't _be alright, you can't know that—"

"No, but I know you, Irelia." Vi said, still as gentle as always, "I know you and I know you won't give up, so that's how I know she'll be okay. You've been told this would be a hard thing to do. You weren't told it was impossible."

"I'm just _so _tired, Vi."

"I know, I can see it." She said, her eyes on Irelia's face, on the tiredness that hid beneath droopy eyes and eyebags. "Let's do something: I'll stay here for a while just in case things get weird. You use that time to rest and I'll take care of whatever need arises. Okay?"

Irelia hesitated, but the yawn that escaped her lips was already agreeing to that idea. "I don't know, Vi," She said, but she was already getting comfortable on the couch, stretching on it as she kicked her legs up on it, letting Vi slowly guide her down until her head was laying on the woman's lap.

"It's going to be okay, Irelia. Rest for as long as you need and let me take care of it."

Irelia looked up at Vi, "I'm afraid my stupid impulse fucked it all up." Irelia said, weakly. "I'm afraid I've just destroyed everything we've worked for because, what if she remembers me now but is disgusted, because she can only remember the Irelia she had tried to kill, once? What if—"

"_Irelia."_

Vi's voice had been more authoritative than she'd ever heard it be.

"You're a very organized person, you know that, right?"

Irelia nodded her head, slowly.

"Order generates progress, I will not deny that." Vi said, her hand slowly moving against Irelia's head, her fingers tangling themselves on strands of hair. "You don't want to mix things because you think she must feel better first, before you can actually tell her what you feel or do something about it." Vi sighed, watching as Irelia's eyes slowly closed, "Order generates progress, but we progress over innovation and, guess what?" She smirked, "Innovation needs chaos." Her head lolled to a side. "Stop thinking that, because you didn't follow the order you commanded yourself to follow, nothing good will happen. You've innovated, you tried something you hadn't tried before, so we might as well sit and see what effect this innovation brings. It's not the end of the world, I can promise you that."

And Irelia was already falling asleep when she asked, "You promise?"

Vi smiled, despite the fact Irelia could not see it. "I promise."

So, with thoughts of order, progress, innovation and chaos in her mind, Irelia finally fell asleep.

* * *

The faint sound of the television in the background, the feeling of a soft blanket covering her body, the sensation of fingers —most definitely Vi's —_still _scratching her scalp, gently.

Irelia kept her eyes closed for a few minutes more. After all, it was the first time in Gods-know-how-long that she managed to wake up on her own accord, with no one and nothing interrupting her sleep, except for the fact that she had finally slept for long enough.

She heard Vi chuckle rather quietly and she used that moment to stretch, finally opening her eyes.

"Good evening," Vi said, her voice low.

"Good evening," Irelia replied, her voice croaky with sleep. "How long was I out?"

Vi's eyes darted to the TV, before coming back to Irelia's, "Around ten hours." She saw Irelia's eyes widen, "It's midnight, already."

Irelia rubbed her whole face with her hand, "I guess I really was tired."

"Yeah."

Slowly, Irelia raised to a sitting position, her eyes landing on the still slumbering Riven.

"She didn't wake up, either." Vi said, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "She's been asleep the whole time you were."

Irelia frowned, "Usually, when she passes out, she wakes up one or two hours after."

"Well, usually, when she passes out, she doesn't bang her head against the ground like she did this time." Vi reasoned, "You catch her before she falls. This time you didn't."

Irelia turned and looked at her, a bit nervous, "Do you think she died?"

"I checked her vitals while you slept." Vi confessed. "Her breathing and her pulse are normal. Slow, but that's to be expected from someone who's asleep."

"Oh," Irelia said, frowning, "I thought maybe you stayed with me all the time."

"Ten hours without moving?" She snorted, "I like you, Irelia, but I can't stay still for that long. Besides, you were dead to the world, so you didn't even notice I was moving around."

Irelia nodded her head, "Seems reasonable."

Sensing she was still worrying, Vi scooted closer, "Hey, relax." She started, "She's probably just as tired as you were. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Irelia allowed herself to believe, if only for a second, that maybe Vi was right.

As minutes progressed, Irelia allowed Vi to do many things.

She allowed the brawler to push her into the shower.

She allowed her to cook her something that Irelia would never admit to her, if only to mess with her, but was tasty and filling.

She allowed her to tidy up the mess Riven had made.

And, once she felt at ease, like she could deal with everything on her own, she allowed her —even _forced _her a bit —to go back to Piltover, to the responsibilities she had abandoned and that required her attention, for the brawler to go back.

After all, when Riven woke up, it was always better if Irelia was alone. Vi seemed to trigger a rabid animal inside of her.

And Irelia feared the animal may still be there, despite Riven having recognized her before falling under once more.

So Irelia poured herself a glass of water and sat down on the couch, allowing herself to actually get hooked by the story that was presented to her through the TV, on a fiction show; apparently, a dapper-looking man had been accused of murder and the protagonist, his daughter, was trying to prove he had not done it.

_But had he not done it?_

She allowed herself to forget what worried her for a while, but she was brought back to reality as she heard groaning coming from the bed.

She turned to look and saw—

She turned off the TV and slowly approached the bed as Riven slowly sat up, groaning as she did so, her hand coming up to her head as she reached a sitting position.

Irelia froze in place, a step away from the bed, watching Riven as she frowned, looked around and—

Her eyes landed on the Ionian woman, widening a bit as she said, "Irelia."

Irelia looked at her.

_Red._

Irelia could feel herself tearing up.

Riven frowned at the image. "Irelia?—"

She didn't know how to react as the Ionian threw herself at her, trapping her in an embrace, but Riven did snake her arms around the woman's body, her frown deepening as she heard her… _laugh?_

"Are you okay?" Riven asked her, her voice thick with sleep's spell.

Irelia pulled away, a wide smile on her lips, tears coming down from her eyes as she regarded Riven, "Couldn't be better."

Riven raised a brow, not very sure about what was going on with Irelia, but decided not to push it too much. "Where are we?" She asked, before getting even more serious and saying, "What happened to me?" She groaned, then, knowing how she'd get whenever she _lost control,_ "What did I do?"

Irelia's smile slowly vanished as she calmed down, "Okay," She said, nodding her head, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Riven shut her eyes closed and squeezed them, trying to remember, but, "I don't know, my mind is all foggy." She rubbed her eyes with her hand, her other one still on Irelia's back, "I clearly remember running away from a blue haired madwoman—"

"Jinx." Irelia offered, earning a curious look from Riven, before she resumed her thinking.

"Then I remember fighting a pink haired one—"

"Vi." She said once again, making Riven raise a brow at her.

"You know them?"

"I only know Vi," Irelia said, "But she told me Jinx's name." She shrugged it off, "What else do you remember?"

Riven focused again, "I remember fighting with her, then I remember feeling steel pushing against my arm and—" She looked into Irelia's eyes, her red ones narrowing in confusion.

Irelia offered a small, sad smile.

She looked around, "My blade." She said, before raising her brows a bit, a sad look on her surprised expression, "Where is it?"

And her voice had been so low, so gentle…

Irelia placed a hand on Riven's cheek, a sigh escaping her lips. "I'm sorry, Riven. It's gone."

Riven frowned, "Gone?" She asked, watching Irelia nod her head. "Lost?"

"_Destroyed_." Irelia said. "Don't you remember what I told you, before we came to Zaun?"

Riven's eyes drifted away from Irelia's as she tried to think of it, "You told me you'd get rid of it." She said, before looking into Irelia's eyes again.

The Ionian nodded her head a bit. "During that fight, I pushed your arm so that your blade would receive the impact and, hopefully, Vi's gauntlets would break it." She sighed, "They did, so I fulfilled my promise. I destroyed it."

The former Noxian was frowning, unsure of how to feel with such information. "You destroyed it?" She asked, watching Irelia nod.

A pounding headache was forming, Riven could feel it coming her way.

"And did I ever agree to that?"

Irelia exhaled slowly, "Yes."

"When? Because I cannot remember ever—"

"Years ago, after the second Noxian Invasion, when you tried to break it yourself."

Riven closed her eyes, "Okay, but when did I agree to this in the recent past?"

"You didn't," Irelia admitted, "But it's not like you had a choice, either."

Riven opened her eyes then.

She was glaring at the Ionian.

"It was _my _blade." Riven stated. "If someone had a choice, it was me." A muscle in her jaw feathered, "And I don't ever recall allowing you to break it."

Irelia rubbed her eyes with her index and thumb, a thing she realized she was doing far more often than usual. "It was poison for you, for your mind."

"I want to choose what I allow to poison me, Irelia."

Irelia _glared _right back at Riven at the sound of those words. "Well, you'd better pick another one, because this specific poison is now discontinued."

"Under whose orders?"

"_Mine."_

Riven's presence vanished from near Irelia as she laid back, creating space, a distance between them, crossing her arms as she said, "I think you're ignoring the power dynamic between us, _Captain Lito." _She ground out with a scowl, "You may _think _you're my superior and I may feed that fantasy while we're in Ionia, but don't you forget that I'm not Ionian and that we're not in the First Lands, anymore." Her eyes were narrowed, "You don't get to choose over me."

Irelia groaned. "You can't be serious right now." She said because, truth be told, she couldn't believe Riven was _angry. _She had expected a certain anger, but not so _intense._

_Because me taking the lead hadn't been a problem until _just now.

_It's better to deal with her anger instead of her madness, though._

Because, Irelia could easily admit, it _was _an improvement.

"What makes you think I'm not serious?"

Irelia's angry scowl turned into a frown of confusion, rather than fury.

Something in the gravely tone, the low voice and the serious look…

She looked at the Noxian, "Riven…"

She trailed off as her eye caught a detail on the image.

Riven's eyes were red but, if she stayed still, if she stared for long enough she could see them, like flashes of lightning that lit up a dark sky.

Instances where her eyes turned green.

It was brief, lasting less than the blink of an eye, but it was still there.

The demons remained.

They still hid in the corners of her mind.

She hadn't exiled them from her soul just yet.

Upon such a realization, Irelia's animosity dissipated.

"_Riven _what?" The former Noxian spat at her with a snarl, the color in her eyes swaying from red to green.

Irelia shook her head. "Nothing." She sighed, a calm expression on her face, "Look, I don't want to fight with you." She told her, "And I believe we're both not thinking clearly."

Riven sneered, "Because my mind is _poisoned?"_

Irelia shook her head. "Because a lot has happened, Riven." She said, offering a small smile, "A lot has happened and I believe we should finish catching up before I admit I was _wrong _for making a decision without consulting it with you first, because hearing me agree with you will probably give you a heart attack."

And just like that, the pent up anger evident on Riven's face started to slowly fade away, as the furrowed brow made room for a look of surprise at Irelia's unexpected words.

Then Riven's hand shot to her head, a groan of pain leaving her lips as she winced. She grunted out, "Did I get stabbed in the brain or something? Because this headache surely feels like someone did just that."

The blunt change was enough proof for Irelia that she was still struggling with the runes' influence.

Irelia shook her head, "You weren't stabbed anywhere, but you did receive a few blows to the head." Her head lolled to a side, "Though I believe the pain you feel is due to your sword missing—"

Riven groaned at the pain, as if it had gone up a notch at Irelia's words. "I received a few blows?"

"You haven't been _peaceful, _exactly, the past few…" _How long has it been?_ "...Weeks, Riven."

Riven's expression was one of fear and concern when she looked into Irelia's eyes and asked, "What did I do?"

Nevermind that she wanted to ask, _How long was I out?_

Irelia's gentleness turned into concentration as she scooted closer, "Just what do you remember, _after _your fight with Vi?"

Riven looked away, trying to bring up to the front of her mind the events that came after. "I remember an explosion of sorts—"

"Your blade."

"—And then I hit something—"

"A wall."

"—And it must have been a strong enough impact to knock me out, because that's all I remember from then." Riven said, looking at Irelia for a few, brief seconds.

"Okay," The Ionian said, nodding her head, "And what happened _after?"_

Riven looked away again, "It's all… _blurry." _She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, squeezing her eyes shut and pressing on them with two fingers, as if trying to get rid of sleep's spell.

"Try telling me singular things you can remember," Irelia encouraged her, "It doesn't matter if you don't remember an event: whatever it is that comes to mind, just let it out."

"I remember darkness," Riven started, her face contorted into an expression of pain and focus. "I remember being in Ionia, then in Noxus, then in the Fleshing Arena, then in Targon, then in Ionia again…" She sighed, the breath coming out shaky, "I remember dead bodies, blood, the Crimson Elite, fighting monsters..."

"_Fighting monsters?"_

Riven looked at Irelia, "I remember being in all these places, fighting these…" _How can I describe them? _"..._Creatures, _in all of them. I don't remember travelling, though."

Irelia frowned, "Riven, _how _did these creatures look?"

_And what kind of question is that? _"Tall as me, maybe, stood on two legs—" She cut herself off as a thought hit her, "Those weren't _creatures, _were they?"

Irelia shook her head, a pained expression on her face. "Don't you remember the people you almost killed in the hospital? Don't you remember trying to kill _me_?"

Riven's eyes widened, "_Kill _you?" She shook her head, horrified, "I'd never even try to—"

Irelia's hands cupped her face, "Riven."

The Noxian looked into Irelia's eyes.

They were glassy.

"You almost killed an entire medical unit. You painted the walls with your blood, drew the runes that had once been on your sword." She tried not to let the tears fall, "Don't you remember any of it?"

Riven looked terrified, unable to understand she had done something like that. "No," She said, her hands coming up to her head as the pounding headache returned, her fingers digging into her skull, pressing hard as she squeezed her eyes shut, "No," She said, breathing hard, "No, No—"

"_Riven," _Irelia called her name, her hands moving towards Riven's wrists, holding them, pulling her hands away from her head. "Calm down. It's okay."

Riven opened her eyes, her own looking as glassy as Irelia's, "Did I kill anybody?"

"No, Riven," Irelia cooed in a low voice. "No one died, everyone's safe and sound, I promise."

It looked like it calmed her a bit, but Riven still looked a bit shaken, "And did I hurt you?"

_That _was a hard thing to answer.

_Because _yes, _seeing you go through it was like a thousand stabs to the heart, Riven._

"You didn't, don't worry about it. Seeing you suffer like you did was a terrible thing, though." Irelia replied, being honest with the former Noxian.

Riven looked sad at such a reply, though. "I'm so sorry about it, Irelia." Those tears finally fell from her eyes, "I'm sorry about it all."

Irelia's arms snaked around the woman's body. "It's okay, Riven."

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Riven said, her voice muffled against Irelia's shoulder, "I don't even know why I feel like this."

Irelia smirked, "Being sensitive is not a weakness, Riven. After all you've been through, it's understandable for your emotions to be a bit shaken up."

"I never said that!"

Irelia chuckled, "But you implied it."

Riven pulled away, her eyes wet with tears but a playful pout on her lips, the Noxian ready to say something, but then her eyes wandered to Irelia's clothing and a frown formed on her face, "What are you wearing?"

"Vi's clothes."

Riven looked even more confused than before, "_Why _are you wearing her clothes?"

Irelia laughed, knowing that if she just replied _Because she told me to wear whatever I found in her wardrobe _would be really confusing for the Noxian. "You wouldn't understand it."

And she tried to ignore the way she felt at the sight of riven's _glare._

_Is she _angry _that I'm wearing Vi's clothes?_

She tried not to think of it.

Despite the confusion she felt, Riven chuckled. "Whatever you say." She replied, wiping her eyes.

"So, what else do you remember?" Irelia broke the lighthearted atmosphere, partly because she needed a distraction.

Riven got somber once more, shaking her head. "I don't know, Irelia. I remember a lot of things, but it's all so foggy, like my mind has been working wrong," She shook her head, "My very memories seem to be distorted," She said, looking into Irelia's eyes, "I remember seeing the Crimson Elite, dead, asking me to kill."

"Kill who?"

"_Everyone."_

Irelia gulped at that. Riven merely sighed.

"I remember fighting creatures and passing out right after…" She got lost in her own thoughts, "...It."

Irelia's head lolled to a side as she tried to catch Riven's eyes, "I'll take it passing out wasn't a very good experience?"

"Every time the lights went out, I'd still be kind of _awake,_ in the darkness." Riven said, "I remember it." She looked at Irelia, "The undead didn't stop their requesting when the lights went out. It only made them angrier."

_The undead._

Because Riven hadn't only seen the Crimson Elite and Irelia knew it.

"Whenever I was out cold, they'd hostigate me, without me being able to see them." Riven continued. "Every time I woke up, I felt like I was in a new place and I could finally see them all." She sighed, closing her eyes, "No matter what happened, they were always there, whether it was dark or not."

"And are they around us now?"

"No," Riven said, opening her eyes and looking around, as if making sure. "I stopped seeing them after _someone," _She was frowning, "_A friend _of sorts helped me see they weren't really there."

Irelia was frozen. Riven noticed.

"That was you, wasn't it?"

Irelia nodded her head. "It had been me."

Riven sighed, "I'm so sorry."

Irelia exhaled slowly, "It's alright."

But then— "I remember you."

Irelia froze.

"I remember seeing you."

_She can't possibly—_

"I remember calling your name, then falling asleep."

"That's all you can recall?"

Riven frowned, "Is there something I'm forgetting?"

_She doesn't know._

She closed her eyes.

"No," She lied, "I'm just asking."

Riven groaned as another painful headache made her head pound. "I'm sorry, Irelia, I'm having trouble remembering it all. It's like I can only come up with little specks of moments. I remember fighting and passing out, I remember seeing the undead and then not seeing them anymore, I remember obeying them and then fearing them, but I can't really…" She sighed, "It feels like it has all been a dream, or something that happened eons ago." She shook her head, "I can't tell what of it all is something my mind came up with and what's something that actually happened." She was frowning, "I guess some things will come back to me with time, or will make better sense. Right now, my head's a mess."

"_You're _the mess."

Riven chuckled, "I _did _say something like that to you, didn't I?"

Irelia nodded. "You did."

Riven was smirking, "What did _this mess _miss out on while I was _gone?"_

Irelia raised her brows, "A lot."

"Well," Riven said, that smirk still on her lips, "You'd better start telling me all about it."

Irelia opened her mouth to reply, before the door was forcefully pushed open, both of them turning to look at the intruder as they heard the sound.

Irelia stood up and rushed to the door, "_Vi!"_

The brawler closed the door and fell back against it, the deep cut on her brow bleeding profusely. "Hey." Her eyes moved from the approaching Ionian to the Noxian that still sat on her bed. "Oh. You're up."

Riven _glared _at her. "I am." She snarled, and it surprised even _her._

_By the Gods, why do I want to kick her on the face?_

Irelia inspected the cut, "What happened to you?"

"I think someone knows you're snooping around Zaun."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Because they can NEVER catch a break. EVER.


	26. Community of Dreadful Nightmare And Fear

_I think someone knows you're snooping around Zaun._

It kept ringing on Irelia's head.

Truth be told, she was getting tired of running around.

"Let's get you patched up while you tell us all from the very beginning," She told Vi rather calmly, slowly guiding her to the couch before moving to the bathroom, where she had left medical resources, in case Riven needed them.

As Irelia disappeared behind the bathroom's door, Vi let out a long exhale, grunting at the pain as she faintly touched the cut on her brow.

Feeling the eerie sensation of being observed, she looked to her right, where the bed was—

Riven was sitting on it, a threatening scowl on her face as she glared at Vi.

Vi raised a brow, "Are you okay—"

"You talk to me one more time and I swear to the Moon I'll gut you like a dead cat." Riven cut her off as she snarled, her breathing turning fierce as she let out the harsh threat, before her eyes widened at the sight of a shocked Vi.

_What the Hell was that?_

She blinked once, twice, then cleared her throat and averted her gaze.

Right on time for Irelia to come out of the bathroom.

_Let's pretend nothing happened here._

Her eyes remained still, locked on something right behind Vi as Irelia walked between them, not noticing the way Vi was looking at Riven —or, maybe, noticing it and finding it weird, but deciding not to comment on it —as she got on one knee in front of the brawler, placing the medical kit on the ground next to her, calling Vi's attention with a mumbled, "Let me get a look."

Silently, Vi stopped looking at Riven like she had three heads and chose to look at Irelia instead, leaning forwards and resting her forearms on her legs, so as to allow the Ionian to inspect her cut.

Riven let out a small breath of relief.

Vi had not said a word about her little outburst.

_A thing to thank her for, later._

_But why do I hate the very concept of her so much?_

She watched with concern for her own mental health as Irelia got close to Vi, her eyes inspecting the wound, her fingers daintily coming up to—

Vi hissed, making Irelia freeze in place, "That hurt."

"No fucking shit, idiot."

Both Irelia and Vi turned to look at Riven at the unexpected comment, "What was that for?" Irelia questioned with a shocked tone, a rather surprised frown on her face.

Vi was openly _glaring _at Riven. "I think there's a problem with your girlfriend's brain."

And Irelia would have said something, but then Riven was throwing herself at Vi—

"Who do you think you're insulting—"

Irelia pushed her away, preventing more damage from coming the brawler's way. "What is _wrong _with you!?"

Riven blinked once, twice, a furrowed brow growing on her expression as she averted her gaze from Irelia's, "She insulted me—"

"I just called you _her girlfriend._" Vi corrected her, "You need to relax."

Irelia regarded her for a few more seconds, before turning back to Vi, a quietly mumbled, "I didn't know being my girlfriend was this big of an insult," leaving her lips.

And Riven wanted to grab her by the shoulders and scream right at her face.

She wanted to, but she opted for the opposite.

She remained quiet, still, ashamed.

"I will need to stitch it." Irelia announced, changing the topic.

Vi was grimacing. "Have you given someone stitches before?"

"No," Irelia simply said, her eyes going from the cut to the medical kit as she took a needle and some thread out of it, along with cotton and alcohol. "But I know how it's done."

Vi kept grimacing, hissing at the burning sensation she felt as Irelia cleaned her gaping wound with the alcohol and the cotton.

"Okay," The Ionian said once she saw the wound clearly, no excessive amount of blood around it, anymore. "Time to patch you up."

"I don't really want—"

"Oh, darling," Irelia said, a vicious smirk on her face, "Who here ever said you had a say on this?"

Vi stared at her, before the cruel expression gave way to a snort—

She shoved Irelia, "Little sadistic piece of shit, you're enjoying my suffering!"

Irelia laughed, "Give me a break and stay put so I can stitch you up."

Vi slowed to a stop, not moving as she felt Irelia approach, needle ready.

"Do we really have to do this without anesthesia?" She asked, as if they actually had any.

"Real men do it like this." Irelia said as she approached Vi's skin with the needle.

"_But we are not men—"_

Vi got cut off by her own hissing and complaining as Irelia's needle made it through her skin.

"If you stay put, we'll be done soon, Vi." Irelia announced, carrying on with her task, knowing she was hurting the brawler but aware of the fact that, the faster she finished her job, the faster she'd be out of pain.

"Never have I felt the need to punch someone in the face as desperately as I do now—" She threatened, no real malice behind it as she continued expressing her pain through hissing and cursing.

And then her eyes fell on Riven as she casted a side-eyed glance her way.

She was intently staring at Irelia.

Her hands on the needle.

The furrow of her brow.

The way the metal pierced the skin and slowly closed the wound up.

"Just a few more seconds…" Irelia mumbled out loud as she cut the thread and made a small knot. "Done." She announced, putting it all away. "Now you'll survive to see another day."

Vi stood up and walked towards the bathroom, inspecting herself on the mirror.

Three stitches, right on the middle of her left eyebrow, almost cutting it in half. "Goodbye to my eyebrow game."

She laughed when she heard Irelia reply, "It'll make you look cooler!"

She came out of the bathroom with a smile on her lips, "As if I _needed _to look any cooler." She said, before throwing herself on the couch again, "I'm already as cool as you can get."

Irelia rolled her eyes, "Sure," She said, before sitting next to Vi, letting the brawler end up between her and Riven.

_Dangerous, but this way I get visuals on her, in case she tries something stupid._

_What the Hell is wrong with her, anyway?_

"Why don't you tell us what, exactly, happened to you?" Riven said in a calmer tone, her frowning eyes glued to Vi, her face still red with shame.

Irelia was having a very hard time following her intentions.

_Whatever._

After staring at her with distrust for a few seconds, Vi started, "I got jumped. A group of…" She shook her head, losing herself in her own thoughts, "I don't know, a group of…" She grimaced, "_Deformed _people cornered me in a dark alley."

Irelia frowned, "_Deformed _you say?"

Vi nodded, "They didn't really look human," She told her, "I don't know, they had… One of them had three arms." Vi said, as if suddenly remembering it. "Another one looked like they were two people sewn into one." She shook her head, "I don't know, Irelia, but they didn't really look human or, at least, _normal."_

"What _is _normal, anyway?"

Irelia looked at Riven with a bored expression, "_Three arms _is _definitely not _normal." She deadpanned, "Don't try to be nice now, because you'd definitely be agreeing with calling them _deformed _if it weren't Vi the one who said it." She scolded, before looking back at Vi again, ignoring Riven's uncomfortable look. "You were saying?"

Vi kept thinking about the attack. "They cornered me and I fought them off, until the big one arrived."

"The big one?"

"Yeah, he looked like he was their boss, judging by how they stepped aside to let him through."

Irelia narrowed her eyes, "And then what?"

"He fought me. The guy was tough as Hell: he had a sort of machine gun instead of an arm and he kept shooting me." She narrowed her eyes, "My gauntlets got the most of it, but he did shoot a…" She shook her head, "I wouldn't know what it was, but he shot a sort of canister at me." She sighed, "I tried to dodge, but its' pointy end got me on the face."

It didn't make much sense. "He shot a _canister _at you?"

Vi nodded her head, "It contained some _green _gas in it." She said, her eyes widening as she looked into Irelia's as if emphasizing what she said.

Irelia didn't need her to emphasize; she already knew it couldn't be a coincidence. "I hope you didn't inhale it or anything."

Vi shook her head, "As soon as it landed, it started to spread around me, so I knew I had to run away and I had to do it fast, but then he threw a meat hook at me, got it stuck on my right gauntlet and he started to pull from it." She glared, not at Irelia but at the memory playing in her head, "The gas was closing in on me, so I just took it off and used the other one to make an exit through a wall." She looked at Irelia, "Motherfucker got my gauntlet."

Irelia was grimacing, "I hope that isn't too big of a problem."

Vi shook her head, "I can rebuild it, it's no biggie. Besides, he wrecked the most important parts of it with his hook, so it was rather useless anyway, but Hell if I wasn't attached to it." She pouted, "My gauntlets are my babies."

"At least you didn't lose anything of significance."

Vi nodded her head. "True, though it will be really hard to explain to Caitlyn."

Irelia winced, "_Oh. _You're in trouble."

"Or will be soon."

"Who's Caitlyn?" Riven's voice made both of them turn to look at her.

"Caitlyn is my boss," Vi quickly offered.

"They're both police officers for the city of Piltover," Irelia explained, "And right now we're in Zaun, so Vi shouldn't be here."

"And when Caitlyn finds out I _was _here, despite all her orders for me to stay put…" She shivered, "She will kick my ass."

"And when she finds out that not only were you here, but you lost your work tools in the process…"

"Oh, _God," _Vi said, her expression one of anticipated pain, "She will _kill _me."

"Better start working on a new gauntlet soon." Irelia said with a smirk on her face.

Vi sighed, "Doesn't matter, she will _smell _the sins on me." She said, the dramatic tone making Irelia laugh a bit, before she managed to calm down again.

"Stop, let's get serious again." She said, making Vi complain at her sudden change of mood. "Shut up, we haven't finished discussing your attack."

"What _else _is there to say?"

Irelia raised a brow, "The part where the deformed people tell you they attacked you because of us."

"Oh, that." Vi said, clearing her throat. "Yeah, well, the small ones didn't make many comments about it, but the big one did say something about it."

"What did he say?"

And Vi's expression grew somber as she said, "When he saw I was about to get away, he said: _Noxus made her a great disservice when they didn't punish her betrayal. I'll fix it soon."_

She didn't know whether it was the choice of words of their unknown enemy or the way Vi was staring at her, but Irelia felt a shiver go down her spine. "Yeah. Definitely talking about us. What did he look like?"

"He was the weirdest of them all," Vi started, "I can't even describe him. He had a mask attached to his face and was breathing that same green gas he shot my way." She shook her head, "He had a missing arm, a gun replacing it." She grimaced, "The worst part were his legs, though."

"What about them?"

"He had _six_." Vi said, looking at Irelia with wide eyes. "And they were all mechanical, resembling spider legs." She frowned, "The more I think about it, the more I see he looked like a crab."

"A _crab?_" Riven chimed in, eyes wide open in surprise.

Or recognition.

Vi nodded, "Yeah, a crab."

Riven frowned, looking away, her hands nervously running up and down her thighs.

Irelia noticed she was nervous. "What's the matter?"

Riven looked at Irelia, "It sounds familiar."

"The _crab man?" _Irelia asked, unable to believe it, her disbelief growing as she saw Riven nod. "How so?"

Riven shook her head, closing her eyes as she rubbed them with her fingers. "I don't know, but I've heard a story about a crab man, before." She looked at them, "Scary stories I remember getting told as a child, about a man who wasn't a man anymore." She shook her head, "I'm trying to remember his name, but…" She shivered, "_Gods, _even up to this day I feel fear just by thinking about him. He was every kid's nightmare."

"And he isn't _just _a nightmare, apparently," Vi commented.

"I've got an idea," Irelia said, before getting up and moving towards Vi's desk and sitting on its' chair, turning on a computer she had learned laid there.

Vi and Riven got up and followed her, "What are you doing?" The former Noxian asked, before frowning, "What _is _that thing?"

Irelia turned on the chair and looked at her with a rather lost expression, "I wish I had a way of explaining to you what a computer is but, if I'm honest, I have no clue about it myself. All you need to know is that it can let you search for information."

"And it can make your life easier, in general."

Riven looked at them as if they were insane. "...Sure."

So Irelia turned again and, opening a search engine, she quickly typed out _Noxian urban legends, _before pressing on the _search _button.

A _very _long list appeared in front of their eyes.

Riven decided not to comment on how she found the _computer _very witchcraft-y.

Irelia started scrolling, her eyes skimming through the options as she mumbled them out loud, "_The pale sorceress, the crimson reaper," _She stopped for a second, "_The spider queen—"_

"Oh, _Gods, _that one was awful too—"

"_The iron revenant…" _She frowned, "_The dreadnought—"_

"That one!" Riven yelled, "_The dreadnought."_

Irelia clicked on the link and started to read out loud, "_The dreadnought _is a Noxian urban legend that tells the story of a Noxian Executioner who got betrayed by his own people, sent away to a Zaunite mine where he got tortured and dismembered but, as he survived, he decided to turn into something new, replacing parts of his broken body by a strong machine, eliminating any weaknesses, with a gun as an arm ,six spider-like legs instead of two human ones and thirst for revenge at his own people."

"Yes," Riven said, nodding her head frantically. "That's the one," She frowned, then, "Though the story didn't exactly go like that…"

Irelia kept on reading. "Another version tells the story of a Noxian General who, after dying in battle against Garen Crownguard, got revived, his body replaced by a monstrous, mechanical one, with six legs instead of two and terrifying scars all over his body, the surgery being carried by—"

"_Professor Stanwick Pididly."_

Irelia raised her brows. "Yes, actually."

"That's the version of the story that I knew as a kid," Riven said, leaning over, her head floating above Irelia's shoulder so as to read the screen. "I knew there were many versions of it, though. Rumour has it one of them is true, the rest having been created to hide which one was it."

"Why would someone want to hide which one's the true version?"

Riven looked at Vi, "To hide that the dreadnought exists?"

"To hide a betrayal." Irelia announced, making both Vi and Riven look at her as she kept her eyes on the screen. "Here it says that the Noxian Executioner who got dismembered had been betrayed by _Jericho Swain _as part of his plan to rise to power, which concluded with Darkwill's murder. As the rumour spread, Swain used his already strong influence over the masses to share a second version where the man had gotten killed by Demacians, though the victim had never been part of the Noxian army, having only worked as an Executioner his whole life instead."

"A _Draven, _not a _Darius." _Riven got close once more, reading the screen. "Guess there's no more need to hide it, since he's already the Grand General…" She mumbled, reading the lines that confirmed it; the story from her nightmares as a kid was actually true, the Executioner being a real man who lived.

_Lives. Who lives._

_And lives here, in Zaun._

_And wants me dead._

"Do we know the Executioner's name?" Vi asked.

"According to this, his name is _Urgot."_

And it all came flooding back to her.

The sleepless nights, seeing the crab-like man in his head…

Riven shivered, "Gods damn it, that was his name."

"Well, Urgot knows you're here and wants you dead." Vi simply stated. Then she added, "And he has an army of deformed people to catch you."

Irelia turned on her chair and stared at Vi with a rather bored expression.

"What?"

"Honestly?" Irelia asked, watching Vi nod her head. "I couldn't care less about this Urgot man." She said, "You know how many people have tried to kill _me _in the past?" She let out a low whistle. "And that's without counting those who tried to kill _her," _She pointed at Riven. "Hell, even _we _appear on that list! I tried to kill her, she tried to kill me." She sighed, "I think I lost the ability to feel fear or, at least, intimidation."

"That's good," Riven said, nodding her head, her eyes lost as she was unfocused, "Because he's known for feasting on fear."

Ignoring her eerie demeanor, Irelia asked, "Does he know we're hiding here?"

"He knows you're in Zaun, but he doesn't know _where." _Vi said. "It's best to always be prepared, though."

"Well, doesn't matter anyway." Irelia said, noticing Vi's confused expression. "Considering Riven is back, we should leave your hideout soon. We must find Cyrus, anyway."

Vi's eyes moved from Irelia to Riven, who was still zoned out, then back to the Ionian.

"Can I talk with you for a minute?"

Irelia nodded her head once, confused, as she let the brawler pull her into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

"I don't think Riven's _back _yet, at least not completely."

"What do you mean?"

"While you were looking for the medical kit in here, she had a little outburst where she threatened to _gut me like a dead cat."_

Irelia groaned, "Oh, _Gods—"_

"And her eyes shone green while she did so."

Irelia stopped. "What?"

"Irelia, I think she broke through the mental mist, but she's still a bit lost in there. I doubt it would be very wise to leave the hideout just yet. If I were you, I'd do some _desk investigation _for now, let Riven evolve, then leave once she's better." Then, she added, "Besides, she's weaponless in a city where _everyone _has, at least, a gun. It just wouldn't be very smart."

Irelia pondered Vi's words.

Truth be told, the brawler was right: she couldn't expose Riven to it all if the former Noxian was still gone.

_It would only break her more._

_And breaking her is something I can't afford to do._

Riven needed to keep on resting, to keep on healing, and Irelia would have to wait, staying still, whether she liked it or not.

"You're right," She told her, "We can't leave like this. Not yet."

"See the positive side; maybe you can finally tell her how you feel—"

"You'd better shut up." Irelia said, a glare on her face.

Vi smirked, "Don't take it personal, Irelia. Maybe she _doesn't _actually find being your girlfriend insulting."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "I need to search for this Cyrus guy."

"I doubt you'll find a Noxian war criminal who seems to be protected by the Empire just by searching on the internet, but maybe I can help you find the chemist."

"Singed?"

Vi nodded, "That one. In the meantime, I could also maybe try to build a weapon for Riven. You know," She shrugged, "So she isn't useless in case you need to fight."

"She tries to kill you and yet you build her a gun." She shook her head, hiding a smirk. "What an angel."

"Maybe this way she'll actually succeed at killing me." She laughed when Irelia punched her lightly on the arm. "Come on! It was funny."

"It wasn't."

Vi rolled her eyes. "Fine. Now, let's go outside and get started."

As they walked out, Riven's eyes snapped to them, a rather apologetic look on them.

Both Vi and Irelia ignored it.

Vi because she didn't know what to say.

Irelia because she couldn't take it.

"Okay," She started, "This is what we'll do," She looked at Riven, though her eyes were on the former Noxian's nose, not her eyes, "We'll stay here for a few more days while Vi builds a weapon for you. During that time, we'll research Singed."

Riven nodded her head slowly, "Okay." She looked at Vi, "Are you staying with us?"

"No," Vi said, shaking her head. "I'll come visit occasionally, but I'll keep in touch with Irelia through her phone." She raised her eyebrows, "Which reminds me, I must get you one, too. Irelia can explain how it works to you."

Deciding not to ask anything just yet, Riven nodded her head, "Okay."

Then Vi's phone went off and, as she inspected it, she sighed, "I think it's time for me to go back home, but I'll let you know how to search for Singed."

Irelia raised a brow, "I think it's as easy as typing his name—"

"Don't you dare try like that," Vi said, cutting her off with a stern look. "You need a special, anonymous search engine to look for people like him. I have one on that computer, but I must go now, so I'll tell you how to use it over the phone."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "Okay."

Vi nodded her head once. "Good." She moved towards the door, phone still blaring, "See you around."

And just like that, she vanished behind it, leaving them alone once more.

After a second of silence, Riven finally said, "What the _Hell _is a _search engine?"_

Irelia sighed.

_This will be long._

* * *

HELLO BABIES! I AM BACK!

I wanted to update mostly to tell you all a few things:  
1) I AM ALIVE! DON'T WORRY! HAHAH! You guys have made me laugh and smile with your worry. Thank you for caring so much! School was kicking my butt. Not that it stopped doing it, but it's lowered the buttkicking considerably (I PASSED MY THESIS CLASS! YAY! Only finals remain).  
2) I love you all. Keep on being awesome.  
3) Updates will be erratic still, but might start coming again.

That's all! Love y'all!


	27. The (New) Games We Play

Irelia walked towards the couch, taking a seat and patting the spot next to her. "Come here."

Quietly so, Riven did, Irelia taking out her phone as the Noxian got comfortable next to her, handing it to her.

Riven frowned at it, turning it around a bit on her hands, before looking at Irelia with the same confused look.

"That thing," Irelia said, pointing at it, "Is a _smartphone." _Riven's eyes moved back to it at those words, "It's a small device that allows you to do many things." Irelia continued, rather interested in her own conversation, "It lets you talk with people, send them text messages, search for…"

She trailed off when she finally focused on Riven.

The Noxian was not paying attention to her, nor to the phone.

She was staring at her hands, the burn scars on them, a sad frown on her face.

Irelia lolled her head to a side, trying to get a better look on Riven's face, "What's the matter?"

Riven closed her eyes, shaking her head a bit.

And when she took a sharp inhale, as if getting ready to speak, Irelia heard it: the faint tremble to her breath.

And when those red eyes opened again, Irelia could see it: the tears that were forming there.

Riven was crying. No whimpering to be heard, no sobbing to be seen, but she was crying nonetheless.

Irelia's confused expression turned to one of empathic sorrow. "What's the matter?" She asked again, softer.

Riven looked at her, "I'm sorry for what I've done," She let out a shaky breath, "I'm sorry for treating her like that."

Irelia raised a brow, "Who? Vi?" She asked, watching Riven nod.

"I'm sorry," She shook her head, "I just, I don't know, I—"

She cut herself off, resting her elbows on her legs,letting the phone fall to the couch as she hid her face on her hands.

Irelia stared, watching as Riven shifted, moving from behind her hands, letting her chin rest on her palms, red eyes staring at something in the room, away from them.

The tears that hid on her eyes had fallen, the former Noxian remaining quiet, blinking them away, letting them fall as she let out a long, shaky sigh through her nose.

Irelia moved from her spot next to her, crouching in front of her instead, her hands on the woman's knees so as to find some stability. "Riven."

The Noxian's red eyes moved towards her, watching her as one of those hands came to her face, her thumb wiping away the tears that fell, one eye at a time.

"It's okay." Irelia said, softly.

And she meant it.

Riven shook her head a bit, letting her hands fall from her face, her eyelids closing forcefully as she did so, "It isn't. It's not fair of me to treat her like that when she's just trying to help."

"Then why did you treat her like that?" Irelia asked her, watching the other woman stare right back at her with pain in her eyes, "I'm not interrogating you here, let alone judging. I'm just trying to understand."

Riven shook her head, an expression of fear on her face.

"You don't know, do you?" Irelia questioned, watching Riven shake her head a bit.

"I don't know why I do the things I do." She tried explaining, "All I know is that I was fine until I saw her enter the room."

And Irelia found herself asking, "Do you think maybe it's jealousy?"

"What?" Riven asked in disbelief, "No! Why would it be _jealousy!?"_

Irelia felt her face heating up, so she tried to think of an explanation, "I don't know, Riven—"

_A fool's hope, maybe?_

"—But you did claim Ban was jealous once, before, because you and I spent too much time together. Remember?"

Riven frowned as she thought, "Yeah, he had thrown your blades at a paper with my name on it." She shook her head, "But it's not that, Irelia." She sighed, "I don't know what it is, but one minute I'm fine, and then the other I want to kill her."

Irelia narrowed her eyes. "You want to _kill _her?" She asked, watching Riven nod.

"I feel the need to hurt her. Badly." Riven frowned, "Whenever she's around," She pictured Vi in her head, "She makes me feel like there's a score to settle and I…" Riven trailed off,

Irelia didn't need to hear the rest.

The green flashes on her eyes were enough indication of what was going on.

Riven sighed, "...And I feel like this void I feel in me is because of her."

"You want her dead because you think she shattered your blade, for _that's _the void you feel." Irelia mused out loud, a frown on her face as she studied Riven's expression, seeing it harden for a brief moment at her words, "That's what's going on, isn't it?"

She looked _desperate, _"But I don't want to kill her—"

"I know, I know," Irelia cut her off, "I know it's not you, but _something _in you."

"_Someone _in me," Riven said, worried, "A darker version of myself."

"But, in the end, not you." Irelia told her, those hands on her knees squeezing harder, trying to drive the point home. "And, besides, it wasn't Vi who broke your blade. She was just an involuntary pawn in _my _plan to break it," She caught Riven's eyes, "_I _broke your blade. Do you understand that? If there's anyone to blame, then that someone is _me."_

"I know," Riven said, a sincere look on her expression. "And I try to remind myself of that all the time, if only to spare Vi from facing the consequences of something she had nothing to do with, but I seem incapable of getting mad at you for it, so I find someone else to blame."

Irelia huffed a laugh, "Incapable of getting mad at me?"

Riven nodded her head, "I don't forget you were the one to wake me from that constant nightmare that was…" She trailed off as she shook her head, "Whatever state I was in. Whatever. I don't forget it." Her hand found Irelia's on her knee, "And I'm beyond grateful for it. You'll never know even a fraction of it."

Irelia tried not to look at Riven's hand on hers. "There's nothing to be grateful for and you _know it." _She sentenced, "We are a team, Riven, and that means we're together, through thick and thin."

Riven huffed a laugh, "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse—"

Irelia blushed, "Okay, I got it—"

"For richer, for poorer—"

Irelia's free hand came to her face, covering it, "_Riven—_"

"In sickness and in health, until death do us part?" Riven finished despite Irelia's complaints, a teasing smirk on her expression.

Irelia shook her head, an annoyed look on her expression, one that made Riven's smirk vanish, before she said, "I cannot believe I literally married my nemesis."

Her words prompted the Noxian to laugh out loud, shaking her head as she did so.

Irelia watched her laugh, content to know she could provoke such feeling on the former Noxian.

But then the mirth died out.

The Ionian found herself staring at a fleeting feeling of joy as Riven's expression grew somber once more.

She knew what worried her.

"You'll get better with time, Riven. It's just a matter of trusting the process."

"But what if I _don't _get better?" Riven asked, a pained look on her face, "What if this is not something we can fix?"

"We can't fix it," Irelia simply said. "Time can."

"What if not even time can?"

Irelia sighed, "Then we will learn to mitigate it, but still," She smiled at the warrior, "It _will _fix it, trust me on this."

Riven looked away, feeling how there were still a few tears to shed. "I'm afraid things only keep getting worse."

Irelia searched for those red eyes. "With time I've learned that, sometimes, things need to get worse before they can get better." She smirked, "This is one of those times."

Riven looked at her again, her eyes still glassy.

Irelia frowned, "What?"

"Nothing, I just…" She shook her head, tears looking ready to fall, "I just…" She covered her face with her hands, letting out a loud and frustrated, "_I knew I should have sprung for the blade warranty!"_

Irelia hadn't expected that.

She couldn't keep the laughter that bubbled up her throat down, letting it come out freely, guffawing at Riven's ridiculous joke.

Riven spied her from between her fingers, coming out of her hiding spot as she did so, a smile on her lips and her tears forgotten and gone as the former Noxian stared at those that were forming on Irelia's eyes, not out of sadness, like hers, but out of mirth instead, as she couldn't stop laughing, falling backwards to the ground as she did so, her hands holding her stomach as it hurt from the laughter that attacked her.

"I think I've _never _heard you laugh like that before." She said, surprised at Irelia's reaction.

"I think I've never laughed like this before!" Irelia confessed between fits of laughter.

"Well, I don't know _why _you're laughing," Riven said, faking sobriety. "Considering how _expensive _that piece of black metal was, I _should _have put in a few extra coins, if only to cover its' insurance, but _no!" _She tried to ignore how Irelia's laughter got louder at her words, "I _had _to be _stingy!"_

Irelia tried to speak through her mirth, "And you _did _have some coin, as the Hand of Noxus."

Riven looked exasperated as she shook her head, throwing her hands in the air, "I was _filthy rich! _I could have paid for fifty different insurance services and _still _leave a tip!"

Irelia shook her head, "You suck."

"I _sucked, _I believe you tried to say." Riven corrected.

Irelia pretended to think for a minute, tapping a finger to her chin. "No, I'm positive what I tried to say was _You suck."_

Riven gasped, before grabbing a pillow and— "How _dare _you, _Ionian!?" _—Jumping on top of Irelia, the pillow landing on the Ionian's face as she smothered her with it, careful not to apply too much pressure, but enough to be a bother.

But then, after a few seconds of struggling against her, Irelia stopped moving.

"Irelia?"

No response.

Riven felt her heart stopping.

She threw the pillow away, "Irelia—"

She screamed, moving away from Irelia as the Ionian yelled a loud _Boo! _on her face, making her heart almost jump out of her chest.

"_Damn you!"_

Irelia was _laughing, _"I can't believe I scared you."

Riven stared at her, both annoyed and amused at the Ionian's antics. "I thought I had killed you." She said, before frowning.

Irelia noticed. "What, now?"

"_I thought I had killed you," _Riven repeated, before looking into blue eyes, "I've said that before." She looked around, "Something like this _has_ happened before, hasn't it?"

Irelia frowned as she tried to remember—

_She woke you up calling you her _friend.

"Yes, you've said that before. You woke me up and asked me about where were we and what had happened to you."

Riven's frown deepened, "I wasn't exactly _myself_, was I?"

Irelia shook her head. "Not really, but you seem to remember it."

"I think I remember it all. It's just a matter of pointing out what actually happened and what didn't." At Irelia's confused expression, she explained, "Somehow, I doubt that, right before that, I was getting drowned in black water by shadow demons."

Irelia grimaced, "Yeah, no, that didn't happen." She said, watching as Riven nodded her head, still frowning, before an idea struck her, "What if we turn it into a game?"

The sudden change confused her. "What sort of game?"

"As you remember things, ask me whether they were real or not and I will confirm or deny it."

Riven stared at her with a bored expression "And _where _is the fun in this game?"

Irelia rolled her eyes. "On the fact that I will lie in absolutely _everything."_

"Oh, but you _suck _at lying." Riven said, matter-of-factly. "I know this for sure."

Irelia waved her off, "I don't want to know how you know that." She said, hearing Riven chuckle lowly at her words. "We will still play my game."

It was Riven's turn to roll her eyes. "Fine, we will."

"Now," Irelia said, before taking a seat on the couch once more, grabbing her phone as she did so, "Come close so I can teach you what this thing is."

* * *

"Irelia, _slow down—_"

"_Riven, _I'm going as slow as humanly _possible, _but if your little pea brain—"

"Oh_, whose _brain do you think you're calling a little _pea?"_

"Riven, I've tried explaining this to you _three times now!"_

Riven huffed, "Well, maybe you suck at teaching."

Irelia stared at her for a second, watching a slow smile form on Riven's lips—

She shoved her, "Insufferable. You're insufferable, you hear me?"

Riven laughed, finding pleasure in the way a smile formed on Irelia's lips too, even if she tried to fight it. "I'm sorry, but it's really funny to see you try to explain what a _smartphone _is."

Irelia glared at her, "You mean to tell me you understood and made me repeat myself in vain?"

"No, I mean I didn't understand but I still find it funny."

Irelia groaned, looking at Riven with a bored expression, "Sometimes, I cannot stand you."

Riven chuckled, "I'm sorry, but you're using really complicated terms that you expect me to learn in, what? Five minutes? Dumb it down for my little pea brain, please."

Irelia rolled her eyes, but then she said, "I guess you're right, though. I only understood myself after researching on the internet."

Riven stared at her, "Do I have to ask what the internet is?"

"By the Moon, _stop asking me questions!" _Irelia said, looking annoyed but not feeling like that at all.

But then Riven was frowning, looking at her as she asked, "Was Diana here, at some point?" She then clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and repeated herself, "Diana came to see us, here, in Zaun, after you summoned her with the charm. Real or not real?"

Irelia shook her head, "Not real. You remembered her after seeing her charm around my neck, but we never summoned her."

She watched as Riven looked away, focusing on the information she had just been given, before holding her head with one of her hands, a groan escaping her lips.

"What's the matter?"

"Pounding headache," Riven said as she hissed.

"I guess there are a few side effects we didn't know of."

"I will be fine." She growled between clenched teeth.

But then Irelia had an idea.

She got up of the couch, moved to the nightstand next to the bed, all while ignoring Riven's constant questioning and grabbed a syringe, before going back to the former Noxian and joining her on the couch.

Riven looked _afraid. _"What are you doing?"

Irelia got the needle ready, "Maybe the right dose of sedative can help with the headache."

She stared at Riven as the warrior's hand shot to her neck, a confused expression taking over, fear gone. "You stabbed me on the neck with something like that. Real or not real?"

Irelia blushed, a sheepish look on her face as she said, "Real."

Riven _glared _at her, "You did it more than once."

She had not asked whether it was real or not.

She _knew._

Irelia grimaced, "Maybe I did."

"And you want to do it _again!?"_

"But you don't understand! This time I won't _stab _you with it!" Irelia quickly explained, "Besides, it might help with your pounding headache."

Riven hesitated for a few seconds, before sighing and finally giving in, extending her left arm so as to let the woman shoot her up. "Go ahead and be done with it, but _be careful."_

Irelia nodded, gently grabbing Riven's arm and locating a vein right where her forearm and her arm met. "Ready?"

Riven was grimacing, but she was still staring at the whole scene. "Ready."

Slowly, Irelia pierced Riven's skin with the needle, ignoring the former Noxian's complaints as she pushed the liquid into her bloodstream.

Riven let out a groan as Irelia finished up, taking the needle out and putting a bandaid on the spot where she had injected the warrior, "I didn't remember just how _thick _this liquid is." She said, rubbing around the small wound with her other hand's fingers, a look of discomfort on her expression. "I can _feel it _in me."

"Stop complaining," Irelia said, rolling her eyes as she set down the syringe, next to her. "It's surely not that bad."

Riven raised a brow, "Let me shoot you up and try it out yourself."

"Oh, by the Void, no."

"Why not?"

"Because I say so."

Riven gasped, "You're _afraid!" _She huffed a laugh, "I knew I was braver than you."

Irelia rolled her eyes, "I'm not _afraid, _Riven. I just don't trust whatever liquid the syringe contains."

Then Riven's expression contorted into one of pure, unadulterated fear as she said, "But you _do _shoot it into _my _veins?"

Irelia shrugged, "You're disposable and probably immune to whatever the world throws at you."

Riven stared at her, her jaw hanging low as she saw Irelia slowly lose her composure, snorting before she laughed. "You're—" She cut herself off, grabbing a pillow and immediately striking Irelia on the head.

"_Hey!"_

"You just called me _disposable!" _Riven said, an angry tone on her voice but a smile on her lips, "Don't you _dare _complain!" She finished, hitting her one more time.

Irelia laughed quickly grabbing the pillow and throwing it away from them as Riven stopped hitting her.

As they calmed down, Irelia noticed Riven's eyes were droopy, "I guess I gave you too much, didn't I?"

Riven chuckled, "Yeah, I feel a bit drowsy, but my headache is gone."

Without any kind of warning, Riven turned around and let herself slowly fall backwards, her head landing on Irelia's lap, the woman unaware of how the Ionian flinched at the unexpected action.

Irelia huffed a laugh, "Excuse me?"

"I'm tired, let me be." Riven said, waving her off, her eyes closing on their own accord.

Irelia chuckled at her antics, slowly bringing one of her hands up to the warrior's head, her fingers finding white locks of hair and moving through them, the former Noxian letting out a content sigh through her nose.

Riven's eyes opened slowly, a small smile on her lips as her pupils moved to the necklace that still hung from her neck, her fingers following her eyes until they gently touched the charm, "It's sad to think it wasn't real that she had visited us."

She wasn't entirely sure whether she wanted to know or not, but still, Irelia asked, "Do you miss her?"

"Terribly," Riven confessed, "Diana and I have a special bond."

It stung, Irelia had to admit. "Were you two lovers? Before she reconciled with Leona, I mean."

Riven laughed, weakly. "No, we never reached that point." Her head moved to a side a bit, "We _did_ get close to something alike it, but it never really happened."

"How close?"

She hadn't meant to ask.

"We kissed." Riven told her, nonetheless. "We were always rather intimate, but one night we pushed it and we kissed. Before it got any more serious, she told me she couldn't be with me if she didn't know how she felt about Leona, so it never happened again nor went any further than that." She chuckled, "She fell back into it with Leona after some time, so any chance of it ever being repeated flew out of the window." Her eyes found Irelia's, "So we've always been friends, but _friends _is not exactly the right label for it."

Irelia nodded, showing she understood, "A bond stronger than friendship, but not in the sense of love, maybe?"

Riven nodded, "Yes, maybe."

"And how do you feel nowadays about her?"

"Nowadays, she's the same she's always been for me; something more than a friend, but definitely not a lover." Riven said, her eyes closing, "I don't know how to explain how I feel about her, but know I'm not jealous of Leona. I'm happy for them. I want them to be together."

She could feel it coming, "But…?"

Riven smiled, "But I will never not find her attractive." She shrugged, "I can't help it; women are gorgeous."

Irelia laughed at that, "They are, indeed."

Riven raised a brow, "Oh, you agree with me?" She asked, watching Irelia as she nodded, "I didn't know about your preferences."

Irelia shrugged. "Men simply can't deal with me."

Riven smiled, "I can only imagine."

Irelia raised a brow, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." She quickly said, letting a few minutes tick by before she swallowed whatever saliva there was in her mouth and said, "Can I confess something to you?"

Irelia raised a brow, "Please do."

"There's someone who's constantly in my head." She frowned, "I think that my little, poor attempt at being with Diana was to try and get my mind away from her, but she always comes back to me. Or, rather, I always go back to her." She sighed, "She's been in my head for years now, and ever since Diana stopped being a distraction, she's taken over it."

Irelia frowned. "Who is she?"

Riven smiled, "I'm not telling you that." She chuckled, "I may be drugged, but not _that _drugged."

Irelia smirked, "I could at least try." She said, before asking, "Is she a girl you knew from long ago?"

Riven nodded her head. "I met her during a crucial time in my life and I think that's why she's always stuck with me. I don't know, call it destiny if you will, but some unfinished business between us kept me going back to her, you know?"

Irelia frowned.

_Who in the Void are you talking about?_

"And why aren't you with her?"

Riven huffed a laugh, "Because I doubt she would ever let me in."

"Why wouldn't she?"

Riven shook her head, a yawn escaping her lips. "Long story."

"I say that when I want to avoid the topic."

"Exactly."

Irelia rolled her eyes, but she let it be, anyway.

"Irelia?"

"Hm?"

"Am I disposable?"

She looked at Riven, noticing the woman seemed to be asking seriously.

She felt guilt at the sight of those red eyes. "No, Riven, of course you aren't. I was just joking. I'm sorry if it was too harsh."

"It's okay," Riven said, "I was just making sure it wasn't serious." Her eyes closed once more, "I would like to believe I'm at least a little bit important to you."

"You're more important than what you probably imagine." She confessed.

"Really?" The former Noxian asked, her voice already heavy with sleep. "How so?"

Irelia chuckled, "Long story."

"Not fair."

"All is fair—"

"In love and war," Riven cut her off, "So you're either in love with me or about to go to war against me."

Irelia froze, but tried to be subtle about it. "And which one do you think it is?"

Riven felt how she was falling asleep, "I don't know, but I surely hope there's no more wars between us." She mumbled, letting herself cut the conversation short as she finally gave in to the sedative's spell.

Irelia smiled, her fingers still moving through the warrior's mane as she let minutes tick by before finally speaking again.

"You'd be glad to know it's the former."

* * *

She couldn't remember ever falling asleep, the process having been so unexpected and sudden that she couldn't recall when or how it happened.

All Irelia knew was that one moment she was playing with a sleeping Riven's hair and the next…

Silence.

She could still feel Riven's warmth on her thighs, so she guessed the woman was still asleep—

She quickly found out how wrong she was, when she saw Riven, eyes wide open, her hands in the air above her face as she held Irelia's phone, staring intently at its' screen.

Red eyes darted from the screen to Irelia's blue ones. "You're awake."

Sleep quickly abandoned her. "So are you."

"Did I wake you?"

"No." She frowned, "What are you doing?"

"I've been inspecting your _smartphone." _Riven commented, her eyes going back to the screen. "I think I've learned a few things, but not enough."

Irelia raised a brow, "What have you learned?"

Riven stifled a laugh as she admitted, "I learned that it's _really hard _to keep your phone above your face in this position without it falling from your hands."

Irelia laughed at that, "Did it fall on your face?"

"Three times, already," Riven replied as she nodded her head, laughter finally bubbling up her throat.

"What an idiot."

"Hey!" Riven complained, "I bet the same would happen to you, if it were you on this position."

Irelia nodded her head, "I don't doubt it; I'm also an idiot when it comes to Piltovian technology." She confessed, watching Riven as she snorted, "Besides that, what else did you learn?"

"Well, I learned that I need to learn your password if I ever want to get into the phone's menu, in the first place."

"How many passwords have you tried, already?"

Riven looked up at the ceiling as she thought, counting the number of attempts before finally saying, "One hundred twenty-seven times."

Irelia's brows reached her hairline. "_What?" _She asked incredulously, staring at Riven, unable to believe it. "You tried _one hundred and twenty-seven times _and you _didn't guess it?"_

Riven slowly shook her head, relieved that it seemed that what surprised Irelia was Riven's lack of imagination, rather than the fact that she had tried to break into her phone. "No. I didn't."

Irelia sighed, "Try with _gnarly blade."_

Riven frowned at her, before attempting to unlock her phone once more and— "By the Gods, that really was your password." She saw Irelia nod her head, before laughter came up her throat, giving her a hard time when she tried to say, "Mind explaining the quirky choice of words?"

Irelia chuckled, "One time, Sao and I were on one of Ionia's beaches and saw some people _surfing._ They'd get on some wooden boards and try to ride them with the impulse of the sea's waves. They kept calling their boards _gnarly, _which I then learned was slang for _cool." _She smiled, "So I got on my crest blades as if they were a board and told Sao I should teach them how it's done, because and I quote myself, _my blades are not only precise, but totally gnarly."_

She watched as Riven laughed loudly, before asking, "And did you teach them how it's done?"

"Oh, _absolutely."_

They both laughed at that, until Riven said, "You're a _cheater! _Your blades _float!"_

Irelia shrugged, "Okay, but they didn't need to know that."

Riven rolled her eyes, one last chuckle escaping her, for she could not erase the image of Irelia Lito, Captain of the Ionian Guard, _surfing and calling herself gnarly. _"Whatever. I've unlocked your phone which, by the way, I was _never _going to unlock on my own." She bit her lip, trying not to laugh again, "It was literally impossible for me to _ever _guess that password."

Irelia shook her head, "Of course you weren't. Now, get up and sit next to me so I can teach you about that thing you have on your hands."

"No," Riven simply replied, "Teach me from there." When no reply ever came, Riven's eyes, which were on the small screen, moved to Irelia.

She was staring back, a bored expression on her face. "You've got three seconds to get up."

Riven immediately did so, scooting close and putting the phone in front of them. "I'm up."

Irelia smirked smugly at her. "Okay, let's start."

* * *

Three days passed.

Surprisingly so, Riven was learning rather fast.

_At least, in comparison to me._

She would need Irelia to repeat herself a few times, but she would get whatever the Ionian was explaining to her somewhat quickly.

_Or maybe she understands at the very first try and is just messing with me._

Irelia really doubted Riven had been tricking her like that, but she liked to entertain the idea for a while.

Each day, she'd teach her something new, all while continuing to play their _real or not real game, _with Irelia telling her whenever something had actually happened or not.

She had to swallow hard before saying _Real _the one time Riven asked her whether she had begged for Irelia to kill her or not.

She looked away when Riven apologised for it.

_Will you remember what happened after?_

She hoped she would and, at the same time, she hoped she wouldn't.

_There's a time and a place for fooling around._

_This is not the time nor the place._

Now, Riven understood what a phone was and knew she could use it to call or text someone. She could also change its' settings and she had even comprehended what internet was.

_Hell, I even told her about Vi and Caitlyn. She knows a lot._

_But not all._

Up next was the tricky part.

"Okay. Today I'll teach you about researching," Irelia announced as they both sat down on the couch, "So, since internet is like some sort of big, neverending database, you can search for information on it." Irelia said, watching as Riven nodded her head once.

"What kind of information?"

"Absolutely anything and everything." She replied, making red eyes widen as Riven looked at her.

"Really?" She questioned, Irelia nodding as reply.

"There's no real limit to whatever you can search for and, as long as you're as specific as you can be when you type out what you want, you're bound to find it."

Riven's eyes went back to her screen, "Let me try this out," She said, typing _Caitlyn _on the search bar and pressing enter.

And millions of different options appeared.

"I'm guessing you were looking for Caitlyn, Vi's boss, right?"

Riven hummed in confirmation, "But I doubt she's any of these."

"Try _Caitlyn Sheriff of Piltover." _Irelia suggested, Riven quickly obeying her.

The image of a woman with dark blue hair and light blue eyes appeared, her ice cold frown perfectly positioned on her expression, her top hat on her head and her rifle hanging idly from her hands.

"That's her," Irelia confirmed, "That's Caitlyn."

"By the Gods, she looks meaner than you," Riven said, laughing at the bored look Irelia threw her way, a small smirk forming on the Ionian's lips.

"She's very much like me, but worse." Irelia announced, hearing Riven gasp and replying to such a reaction by saying, "I know, I know."

"I can't believe it," Riven mumbled, watching as the screen displayed a new notification, announcing it to Irelia, "Vi says she's on her way here." She said, watching Irelia nod her head once as she quickly typed out a new search: _Vi, PIltover._

The very first result that came up was an old picture of the brawler, a mean look in her eye, its' headline being _Zaun's infamous vigilante hired by Piltover's police force._

Riven entered that link and skimmed through it, before announcing, shocked, "Vi used to be a _criminal!?"_

"Oh, yes," Irelia said, nodding, "I forgot to tell you that little bit of her."

Riven clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, thinking of what to search for next.

Curiosity for what _the internet _had to say regarding Irelia struck her.

_I can't search for that with her here. It will be weird._

She tried to think of an alternative.

Her eyes widened just a bit as she thought of Diana.

She _did _want to search for her.

But it didn't feel right.

_Not now._

She settled for the last option as she typed out _Riven, Noxus._

Thousands of results came up.

Her heart fell as she gave them a quick look.

"_Traitor to Noxus, still alive," _She read the headline that was right above a picture of her, before reading the comments underneath the link. "_Can't believe this bitch still exists—"_

She couldn't continue reading, for Irelia's hand on the phone's screen blocked her sight. "For all the usefulness that the internet provides, it's also filled with cruel and rude people who will say things just to cause someone else to react."

Riven raised a brow, "Seems you've done your fair amount of research on the topic."

Irelia had a bored expression as she said, "You're not the first to wonder _what, _exactly, will come up at the mention of her own name." She sighed, "And yours is not that bad. The things that came up when I searched _Irelia Lito…" _She grimaced.

She grimaced, but did not elaborate any further.

Riven turned to fully face her. "What came up?"

Irelia looked away, "I'd rather not—"

"I could search for it—"

She took the phone from Riven's hands. "You _can't."_

_Okay, _now _I'm curious. _"Why?" She asked with a smile that came from the laughter she was trying to keep down.

Irelia's face was _red, _"Because it's _bad—"_

She tried to keep it in, tried to make the laughter wait until Irelia finally said it, "But what's so bad about it—"

"It's _porn!" _Irelia let out in a squeaky voice, making Riven lose it. "Some people have posted very realistic drawings of me in very sexual scenarios," She closed her eyes so as to avoid watching Riven's face as the Noxian guffawed, "Will that answer your stupid questions?"

And then Riven's laughter faltered, quickly slowing down to a halt.

Irelia looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "What?"

Riven was frowning, "You've said something like that to me, before." She looked at Irelia. "You've said _will that answer your fucking stupid questions, imbecile?" _She narrowed her eyes. "Right after that, I remembered your name and passed out." She looked away, trying to focus hard on her memories, "I've had your name at the tip of my tongue all the time, but I was only then able to remember it, because you…"

Irelia remained mute, staring at her as Riven looked at her, eyes wide.

"You kissed me."

She couldn't breathe.

"You kissed me and then you asked me if that would answer my questions."

It had not been a question.

Riven kept thinking, "You kissed me because I asked you _why _couldn't you kill me," Her eyes scanned Irelia's face, "Then you asked me it and I passed out, not before remembering your name." She remained quiet, looking at the other woman, waiting for her to say something, but she was unresponsive, staring at her with her mouth slightly open.

She _knew _she was not imagining it. She _knew _it had happened, the memory being far too vivid for it to be just a product of her imagination.

Irelia stood up and walked away.

_What?_

Riven stood up and followed her, grabbing her by the arm as she called her name, "_Irelia," _She said, making her turn, taking the time to look into her eyes.

It was the first time she could actually see _fear _in them.

_She's trying to avoid the topic._

So, feeling like it was necessary, she slowly advanced, making the Ionian step backwards.

Her back hit the wall, right by the entrance door.

Riven placed her hands to each side of the woman, caging her.

"Irelia," She repeated once more, her voice low, her face close to the woman's. "Let's play our game: you kissed me, then I woke up. Real or not real?"

She was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

She was giving her the chance to back out of her own actions.

Irelia stared anywhere but at those red eyes, searching for her own courage, before looking into them and saying, "What if I did?"

Riven's expression remained neutral, though her wide eyes seemed to shine a darker hue. "_Real or not real?" _She asked once more.

So Irelia closed her eyes for a second, gathering herself, before opening them and looking at the Noxian's lips, recalling how it had felt, before whispering, "Real," And looking into red eyes once more.

And before Riven could react, they heard the door as Vi unlocked it from the other side.

Knowing she only had a few more seconds before Vi finished opening the door, Riven whispered one final thing to her Captain.

"You're not getting away from this."

And with that, she pulled away, right on time for Vi to come in.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Surprise.

Hope yall excited!


	28. Real

"Sorry for the tardiness," Vi hollered as she pushed the door open with her foot, her hands being too busy as she held onto a big box. "I was finishing up the final details." She added, walking into the safehouse and towards the couch, where she saw Riven laying idly, her red eyes focused intensely on her.

It made her shiver.

_Crazy Noxian stares at you like that? It can only mean trouble._

Still, she tried to ignore her as she sat down and placed the big box on the rather small table in front of her.

Irelia appeared on her peripheral vision, taking a seat by her side. "What's with the box?"

She looked at her, a smile on her face, "I brought you some gifts." She looked at Riven, "_You. _I'll start with _you."_

"_Me?"_

She had to fight the feeling of uneasiness that arose at the sight of that intense stare following her actions, but still red, not switching to green for the time being, "Yeah. I may have a few surprises for you. The first one," She opened the box and, after moving a few things around, she found what she was looking for and took it out, placing it on Riven's hands, "Here you go."

Riven looked at it before raising her eyebrows, "A _smartphone?"_

"I _did _tell you that I would get you one, didn't I?" Vi said, "I'll teach you how to use it in…" She trailed off as she saw Riven quickly unlock it, open the phone's settings and set her own password on it, making her frown, "I see you don't need me teaching you shit."

Riven smiled, "I had a few lessons before you showed up."

Vi looked at Irelia, who simply shrugged before she explained, "She picked up on it rather quickly."

"I can tell…" Vi mumbled out loud, watching as Riven finished setting it up and placed it on the table. "You're a good student, huh?"

"Or maybe I simply have a really good teacher."

Vi frowned, her eyes going from the intense stare of Riven's to the fearful look on Irelia's expression.

_Okay, what the Hell was that._

"What else did you bring?" Irelia asked Vi, subtly calling her attention and quickly changing the topic.

"Yeah, that…" Vi tried to steer her focus onto the topic Irelia brought up, opening the box and grabbing some sort of black device from it, not before getting some gloves on, her eyes going to Riven as she grabbed another pair of those and said, "Get up with me for a second."

Irelia noticed the threatening glare on Riven's eyes, but she could see the woman trying not to fall under the pressure of her head, watching as she got up when Vi asked, following her to a more open part of the safehouse, red eyes on Vi's hands as the pugilist held onto the black piece of machinery.

"I made a very special hextech weapon for you," Vi told her, lavender eyes on her own hands before moving up to Riven's, catching through her peripheral how the woman went to grab the device from her—

Riven glared at Vi as the brawler slapped her hand away, "Rude."

"I'm doing you a favor," Vi warned. "Get these on first." She commanded, offering the extra pair of gloves to the warrior and watching as, skeptical look in place, Riven obeyed her, hesitation on her every move, even as she smiled at her, letting a quiet _Much better _and offering the hextech trinket to her.

Riven grabbed the weapon, turning it around a few times in front of herself, inspecting it with a curious look; the black object, metallic and just a little bit heavy, had white and blue details, a glowing blue artifact, which looked like an engine of sorts, right above a shining blue button near the end from which Riven was holding it. "What is it?"

"Point it away from you and press the button."

Riven lolled her head away from it, as if fearing it would hit her, before pressing the button—

She had to fight the flinch that came as the device started to frantically move, the engine she had eyed before, growling into life as it turned, automatically transforming into something new while she still held it on her gloved hands.

She saw it extend and grow in size—

A pure white blade grew out of the black handle she still held, the engine slowing to a stop as the device finished its' activation, blue light shining on the blade's deadly edge.

"It's a sword." Riven commented, wide eyed, turning it so as to see it, her free hand unable to keep from going towards the blade's flat side, before her eyes climbed up to Vi's, "A broadsword."

"I may have seen some footage regarding your fighting style." The pugilist commented nonchalantly, shrugging as she did so. "Comparing it to what I saw you do when we fought, I decided to build you a short-yet-wide sword. Thought you'd find a good use for it."

"And if not, I'll just come up with a good one." Riven mumbled, swinging the new weapon around, feeling it behave on her hands.

She couldn't help but feel marvelled at it.

The blade was pretty much weightless, at least twice as lighter as her former one.

_Will be troublesome to get used to it, but it will definitely mean an advantage._

She twirled it around herself, feeling it float through the air, frowning as it passed near her ears on her constant spinning of it and she heard a buzzing sound.

Vi smiled as she noticed. "It's fuelled by electricity," She said, "Charged from the hilt to the tip of the blade. One touch could electrocute you. Blue light will definitely scorch you." She smirked, "That's why you need the gloves to hold it. And I'd still advice not to touch the blue parts."

Riven's eyed widened more, as if such a thing were possible. "It's wonderful."

"Oh, it's wonderful, but that's not all," Vi said, "Hold onto it _tight _and slide your free hand down the blade's side."

Riven used all of her strength to grip the hilt, letting her other hand brush down the blade—

She gasped as she saw the white parts of it split, blue light on display as the sword grew in size, white metal being held in place, still attached to the weapon, all thanks to the power of the hextech electricity that the blade had turned into.

The sword had transformed into a bigger, deadlier one.

Same size as her former, Noxian one.

"When you pulled _that one little trick _off during our fight, I noticed you were gripping your sword's hilt tightly." She looked proud of herself as she said, "I thought I could try to give you a sort of replica of it."

To be fair, Riven couldn't quite believe it.

Vi had managed to build her a weapon that fit her perfectly.

A weapon that didn't match her previous one, only because it was better on those different aspects.

_Weightless. Stronger._

_She even bothered to take a look at my quirks and add them onto it as perks._

"As long as you hold it wearing _those _gloves, the blade will be able to read your pulsations and react to the neuronal instructions your brain sends to your body." Vi explained, frowning at the device on Riven's hands. "The gloves you're wearing are made of the same fiber that's located inside the hextech engine, which is the reason why they work to let you hold it and why the blade will be able to read your every reaction during battle."

"So it has some special…" She didn't know what to call it, "_Abilities _that I'll only see during a stressful situation_?"_

Vi nodded, "You could say so. You'll see when the time's right."

She did _not _like that. "I wish I knew _before _the right time, so I can use it during it."

Vi laughed, "Okay, but where's the fun on that?"

Riven smirked at the fighter, before quickly twirling the blade in front of her, making her flinch as a single pink hair fell to the ground while Riven halted to a full stop. "I agree, there's no fun in that."

Vi glared at her, though the surprise and fear were evident in her eyes, "Okay, culprit, calm down."

Riven _sheathed _the blade by pressing the blue button again, watching it reduce its' size to its' original one, before placing her hand on Vi's shoulder, "It's amazing, thank you."

Vi nodded her head in recognition, "It's no problem." She said, before looking back at the box, "But that's not all I brought for you." She announced, before walking towards the box once more and pulling out what looked to be a white shoulder plate with golden details, turning to offer it to Riven. "Put this on."

Riven inspected it for a brief moment, before placing it on her left shoulder—

As soon as it came into contact with her body, the artifact started spreading all over her body, covering her in what looked to be an armor, color patterns very similar to that of her new blade.

"I was _not _going to leave you defenseless," Vi said, a smug look on her face. "The armor is much like your blade; reacts to your pulsations _and _your body heat as well. If it's turned on along with the blade, they both may interact, always in line with whatever your neuronal processes indicate." She pointed at Riven's chest, right on the middle, where yet another hextech engine was located, on display. "Just be careful with the engines. They're fragile enough that one single hit on them could destroy your equipment."

Vi watched as Riven grinned, checking her own self out, letting out a delighted, "This is incredible," before turning to look at Irelia, who stared in surprise.

_Whether it's because of my hextech artisan's work or Riven's lack of real aggression towards my beautiful self, I will never know._

Still, she ignored it and said, "And I've got something for _you, _too," Making her way towards the box, humming in confirmation as she heard Irelia let out a small _For me? _"Yes, for you." She raised a brow, "You wouldn't think I'd let you walk around in some old, obsolete _Ionian armor, _right?"

Irelia watched as Vi took out—

Irelia snorted, "A _cape?" _She questioned, taking a closer look at the piece of fabric as Vi handed it to her: white and black, like Riven's, but with pinkish details instead of blue.

_I'm going to pretend I don't consider pink Vi's color._

The cape was short, with smooth fabric and a hood hanging idly from its' top.

"Put it on." Vi commanded.

Irelia stood up at her order, letting the cape hang from her shoulders.

Vi looked at her with folded arms and a smug look on her face, "Get the hood on."

Hesitantly so, Irelia did—

She watched in awe as a pink visor slowly appeared over her face, having being hidden somewhere inside the hood, unable to fight the goosebumps that spread all over her skin as the suit started to spread all over her, hiding her behind hues of dark pink, black and white.

"I know you need mobility more than her," Vi explained, "So yours is made of a very durable fabric, instead of actual plates of armor. It won't protect you as much as Riven's will protect her, but it will certainly shield you way more than yours." Vi's eyes widened, "Oh, I remembered…" She turned towards the box and took out—

Irelia laughed, "I'm _not _going to use those."

Vi was holding blades that seemed to be copies of Irelia's crestblades, but were made of the same materials Irelia's armor was, with their sharp edges being made of that same pinkish crystal that served her as a visor. "Why not?"

"Because I already have mine," Irelia replied, crossing her arms in front of her. "Besides, how are those supposed to imitate the spiritual connection that I have with mine? I am not going to just grab them and throw them around like some sort of knife juggler."

Vi stared at her with a bored expression, "They will imitate it the same way Riven's blade imitates her previous sword's abilities: by reading your physical and psychical commands." She extended her arm, all of the hextech blades on her hand, "Will them to float around."

Irelia didn't seem to trust Vi completely on the matter, but still, even if hesitantly so, she focused on them and—

She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as she saw them fly, moving around as she ordered them to, obeying her as naturally as her own crestblades.

"I told you," Vi said, looking as cocky as ever, "They would work."

"I can see that," Irelia replied, marvelled at the fact that the Enforcer was smart enough to replicate something spiritual through machinery. "I still will use mine, though."

Vi shrugged, "It's still good for you to have extra blades, in case the need arises," She said, before hearing the sound of a camera going off and turning to see Riven, sword in one hand, smartphone on the other, eyes going from the screen towards her as the pugilist asked, "Did you just take a _selfie?"_

Riven didn't move an inch as she said, "I took a picture of myself, if that's what you're asking."

"So, a selfie." Vi said, trying to fight the laugh that threatened to escape her lips.

"So what?" Riven said, waving her away, "Let me be. Do your thing."

Vi turned around, looking at Irelia again as she rolled her eyes and shook her head, "What a kid, your girlfriend."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "You're even more of a kid for bullying her, though." She said, a few seconds passing by before she noticed the looks _both _Vi and Riven were sending her way. "What?"

Vi snorted, "Nothing," She said, taking a seat again. "Nothing."

Riven simply raised a brow on Irelia's direction, prompting the Ionian to look away.

"So," Irelia said, "Now that we've seen all of the gifts you had brought for us," She removed the hood of her cape, willing the suit to hide away once more by the mere power of her mind's commanding. "Why don't we go to the important part and you show us how to search for Singed? You never explained to me how to do it."

"Yeah, I didn't, mostly because I got carried away with building your stuff." She walked towards the computer, "Come here."

Leaving her new armor and blades behind, Irelia followed Vi to the computer, standing behind the chair the police officer occupied as she turned it on.

Feeling eyes on her, she stole a glance on Riven's direction.

She caught her staring at her, unashamedly.

When red eyes finally found ice blue ones, Riven smirked.

Irelia looked at the computer's screen once more, eyes on it but the rest of her focused on the former Noxian, hearing her walk back towards the couch, taking off that new armor of hers.

"There are only a few number of things that we cannot search for in a normal search engine," Vi started explaining, completely unaware of the small exchange that had happened right behind her. "Those things being the illegal stuff: drugs, prostitutes, hitmen, black markets, whatever." She thought of what she had said for a second and clarified, "I mean, you _can _find information regarding those things on a normal search engine, but if you want to find drugs to buy, a prostitute or a hitman to hire, a black market to trade in, you need a special search engine."

"Why?"

"Because those things are very dangerous," Vi said, turning on her chair to look at Irelia, hoping it would emphasize the seriousness of her words, "And a lot of hackers are hiding behind all of that, hoping to find someone who will be stupid enough to search for it all without covering their tracks." She turned to look at the screen again, typing out commands and clicking things Irelia had no clue of, "If you're not careful and you don't use an anonymous search engine, a hacker could find your tracks, discover your actual location, steal all of the information of your computer, even _spy _you through it…" She shook her head, "The possibilities are endless, so it's always better to be safe than sorry."

Irelia grimaced, having trouble imagining the problem but, at the same time, being able to picture all of the dangers of it. "I can agree on that."

After a few clicks here and there, a new object popped up on the screen, "Since we agree, _this _is the window you'll use to search for Singed." Vi explained, before typing out _Singed, chemist, Zaun _on the search bar and hitting Enter.

The image of a bald man appeared on screen.

"That's definitely him." Irelia said as she frowned at the image.

At the crude stare.

At the bandages that hid half of his face.

At the man's left eye, which seemed to shine on a hue of toxic green.

"Is it?" Vi asked, before scrolling down, eyes falling on the next picture— "Oh shit, that's the crab man."

Riven quickly moved towards them, leaning over Vi's free shoulder to take a look at the image.

She saw the Dreadnought in what appeared to be Singed's lab as the mad chemist filled his breathing tank with a sort of green gas.

"By the _Moon," _She mumbled, "It really _is _Singed." She frowned, "Looks worse than when I last saw him."

"Do you recognize the executioner?" Irelia asked her, watching as Riven shook her head no.

"I never knew him in person, but that must be him, considering Vi remembers him _and _he fits the descriptions from the scary stories I've heard."

"Judging by this website, Urgot and Singed are allies," Vi announced as she read what the screen informed her, "Urgot is now a chem-baron and Singed is his partnering scientist."

"A _chem-baron?"_

Vi nodded her head, looking at Irelia, "Chem-barons are basically the rulers of Zaun; they are the ones in charge of the production of chemicals and artifacts that get commercialized down here, always created by scientists they have under their power." She eyed the screen, "Apparently, Urgot was first a chem-baron hunter, killing them to gain power for himself."

Riven huffed a laugh, "Ironic."

Vi continued, "Now that he has enough influence, he became one and partnered with Singed." She looked at Riven, "Now it makes sense why he hates you so much; it's not about handing you back to Noxus, it's about protecting his interests."

"It didn't make sense, for someone who had been betrayed by Noxus to wish to aid them." Irelia mused, "But Vi is right, this explains it."

"So, in order to fight with Singed, we will have to face Urgot, too." Riven mumbled, thinking out loud.

Irelia nodded, a grimace on her expression. "Exactly."

Vi started to speak, "And we could contact Singed through—" But her phone went off as she received a call, which prompted her to look at the screen, looking at it curiously as she said, "It's Cait." She picked up and— "Hello? Yes, it's me, hi Cait—" Her eyes went to Irelia, a frown in place, "What happened?"

Irelia frowned, too, "What's the—"

"I'll be there _right now." _Vi quickly let out, before hanging up and getting up from her seat, "There's been an emergency," She explained, quickly grabbing the now emptier box and moving towards the door, "Cait needs me there."

Irelia walked a few steps towards her, "Do you need us to go?"

She shook her head, "The police forces are needed somewhat urgently, apparently. We can't really get you involved, for the call to action is official and classified, judging from what she told me, but I'll let you know if we end up needing reinforcements."

"Okay," Irelia said, "Do keep me posted."

Vi opened the door, "I will. Got to go, be safe and stay in touch."

And before Irelia could reply, Vi was out, the door closing behind her.

She looked at it with a frown on her face, "I wonder what happened…"

"Nothing happened." Riven replied, matter-of-factly.

Irelia frowned. "What do you mean?" She asked as she began to turn around, "Didn't you see how she—"

When she finished turning, she saw Riven standing there, a cocky smirk on her face, the Ionian's phone on her hand, "It only took me a few seconds to unlock your phone and politely ask Caitlyn to get Vi out of here." Her smirk turned to a grin as she started to walk towards the blue haired girl, "But it will take Vi hours to come back, once she finds out it was all a ruse."

When she was close enough, Irelia took the phone from her hands, reading the screen with a frown, "_Evening Caitlyn, in case you don't have this phone number, It's Irelia." _The Ionian glared at Riven for a brief second, before going back to the screen. "_I have a situation that I believe you could help to fix. You see, we have Vi over and I need to have a very serious conversation with Riven, _in private. _Could you please call her back to the station?" _And before she addressed Riven again, Irelia read Caitlyn's response, "_Hi, Captain Lito. I already had your phone number, Vi's courtesy. Of course I'll call her in and I'll keep her here, but you _will _owe me one. Good luck with your _chat." Irelia sighed, "Oh, Gods…" She glared at Riven, "You _impersonated _me."

"I really like this Caitlyn woman already," Riven said, amused, completely ignoring Irelia's accusation. "She took care of the problem marvellously." She waited a beat, before adding, "And she totally knows what's going on."

"I can't believe you did that."

"I can't believe your password is _Gnarly Blade, _but we all have our quirks." Riven said, quickly grabbing the phone from her hands and throwing it on the couch, "Now—"

"You didn't have to kick her out like that," Irelia quickly stopped the situation from advancing forwards, "She was just trying to—"

"—To help, I know," Riven said, "But, you know what, Irelia?" She asked, a raised brow as she slowly —painfully slowly —started to walk towards the Ionian, "She was taking _too _long and I like to think I _am _a patient woman, but I've been waiting on this matter for more than enough time."

Irelia stepped backwards, "You've—"

"I've had to wait for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, even _years _for us to finally be trapped in the same space," She let out quietly, "Because this began by being all about absolution, about you forgiving me for things I've done that will forever haunt me, but having already earned your forgiveness, I realized this had stopped being about it way too long ago."

She felt her back hit the wall.

_Trapped._

_In the same space._

"Then what is it about, now?"

"It's about _you." _Riven confessed, placing her hands to each side of Irelia's body, on the wall. "It began being about me and now it's about you."

Irelia shook her head, "Riven—"

"Why did you kiss me when I was out of my mind?" Riven cut her off immediately, searching for those fleeting eyes with her own, "Stop trying to avoid the subject and just tell me."

She closed her eyes. "Riven—"

"Why did you do it and why did it have to be the _one time _I can't really react?" She pushed.

"I didn't do it just once."

The way she opened her eyes wide was a clear indication that she had not meant to say it out loud.

Riven frowned, "No? When else?"

Irelia's face was red when she confessed, "On the ship, on our way to Noxus."

"I hadn't imagined that?"

Irelia's frown of confusion matched Riven's, "You weren't asleep?"

Riven's eyes were locked on hers, an intensity she hadn't seen there before.

A clarity she had never before witnessed on the former Noxian laying there, too.

"Irelia—"

"No," Irelia cut her off, "Riven, this is not the time nor the place—"

One of Riven's hands came to to her face, holding her by the jaw, the gesture rendering her mute. "I will _not _hear you talk about time and space," She commanded, every bit the authority she had once been, "I will _not _hear you talk about anything except what I want you to talk about," She warned, her glare hot on Irelia's cold eyes, "So I will ask you once again and, this time, you'd better answer." She leaned forwards, her face a few inches away from Irelia's, "_Why?"_

Irelia stuttered, "Why, why—"

"_Why _did you kiss me?" Riven asked in an urgent tone, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it from her, nonetheless, "Why did you do it?" She asked, raising her voice, letting the importance of the matter weigh down on the already too nervous Ionian, "_What _do you want!?"

"_You!"_ Irelia replied just as urgently, fear in her arteries as those blue eyes locked on Riven's. "I just want you."

Riven stared, the words reverberating inside her skull, before a small chuckle escaped her as she asked, "And when will you notice that I'm already yours?"

And that was all it took for Irelia to damn time and space.

Her hands found Riven's shirt and pulled her in, crashing the former Noxian's lips against her own.

Riven was quick to follow, parting Irelia's lips with her own, deepening the kiss, desperation and lust being the only things to drive her.

She almost lost her mind when she heard Irelia whimper at the gesture.

_A good kind of losing my mind, for a change._

She pressed herself against the Ionian, her hands finding each side of Irelia's face, not letting her move away as she pushed her harder against the wall, Irelia responding to her actions by pulling her closer, her hands snaking around Riven's body, gripping the back of her shirt tightly.

Riven moved away from Irelia's lips, hungrily kissing her way down to the woman's neck, her hands finding her waist and holding her as she kissed the Ionian's pulse point, before biting down on it.

The way Irelia's body suddenly pressed against hers, a shuddering breath being released, was enough indication for Riven to know that she had liked it.

So the Noxian licked the spot she had bitten and repeated what she had done before, kissing her and biting her as her hands gripped her tight, doing it over and over again—

She felt Irelia's hand on the back of her head, as the Ionian gripped her by the hair, pulling her away from her neck.

"You'll regret that—"

She couldn't finish growling out her threat, for Irelia was kissing her hard on the lips once more, pulling out for a second just to say, "Shut up," Before kissing her again.

Still, Riven brought her hands up to the Ionian's shoulders, shoving her against the wall, creating space between them, if only to let out a breathless, "I like you rough like that," Before kissing her again, her hands quickly going back down, to the woman's hips.

She felt Irelia chuckle against her lips, so she moved her lips back to the woman's neck so as to let her speak her mind, "Were you turned on every time we sparred?" She heard her ask, before gasping at the contact of Riven's tongue against her throat.

"No," Riven responded, before kissing her skin, "But I could be from now on."

Irelia's hand found Riven's neck, pushing her away from it, if only to stare into those red eyes and say, "You're incorrigible."

All Riven had to say was, "And you like it, as much as you like it when I call you _my Captain_."

Irelia smiled, eyes darkened with lust, "Yes, I do," She breathed out, before kissing her again, pushing away from the wall.

As the Ionian advanced, her lips on her own, her hands on her hair, Riven was forced to walk backwards, pulling Irelia against herself by her hips, until the back of her legs crashed against the side of the couch and they both fell on it, Riven's back against the cushions, Irelia on top of her.

The Ionian did her best to keep herself pressed against the former Noxian, desperate for the contact and craving more of it, too.

Craving to feel Riven's skin against her own.

She broke the kiss, keeping her forehead against the warriors, quickly moving her legs so as to straddle her, as her hands found the fabric of Riven's shirt and, with no further warning, she ripped it apart.

The gesture made Riven look down at herself with a frown, before looking at Irelia, "You could have just asked me to take it off."

She watched as Irelia stared at her body, "No, I couldn't," She said, frowning at the image in front of her.

Riven's skin was covered in scars.

Her fingers daintily approached those on her abdomen and trailed them gently as she inspected them, the white haired warrior letting her do it with no question, hesitation nor self-consciousness.

"There's too many of them," Irelia said, just then noticing those on Riven's arms and those on her chest, which hid behind the bandages she used around it.

"Noxus is ruthless in its' upbringing," Riven offered as the only explanation.

Irelia's eyes wandered to Riven's hands and she moved to grab them—

Riven pulled them away.

The one thing she could not bear of herself.

Still, "Riven," Irelia called her name gently, trying to hold her hands once more, "Let me."

It was evident on the look of discomfort on her face that she did not want it, but she allowed her nonetheless, looking away as the blue haired woman carefully grabbed her hands, bringing them closer to herself so as to inspect them.

"This is the reason why you always wrap your hands," Irelia thought out loud, "Isn't it?"

"It is," Riven sighed out.

"Where did you get these?"

Riven's eyes locked on hers, "I got them that night."

Irelia shut her eyes, feeling as if she had just overstepped, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Riven said, those hands of hers moving to Irelia's face, cupping it gently as she sat up. "If anything, it's Cyrus', but I don't want to talk about him right now."

"Of all the scars you have, why are these the only ones you hide?" She questioned, her own hands following Riven's, keeping them in place.

She sighed, "They remind me of that night." Riven confessed, unable to look anywhere but at those burn scars that marred her skin, "They remind me of the kind of person I was back then, the things I would do or allow, the people who died because of my foolishness. All the things these scars represent are things I'm ashamed of, so I'm ashamed of them, too."

"You shouldn't be."

Red eyes went back to blue ones, "I should," She retorted, "I cannot accept—"

"And that's exactly what you must do." Irelia cut her off, "You've said so yourself; I've already forgiven you." There was a hint of a smile on her lips as she said, "Maybe all that's missing is for you to forgive yourself and accept the deeds that you've done in the past."

Then she turned her head to her left and placed a soft kiss on the warrior's right hand, before repeating the action with the other.

Riven was staring at her, mouth slightly open, "Do you have _any _idea of how much it means to me?" Feeling as if she wouldn't understand, she added, "The fact that you'd ignore how awful my scars are?"

"I don't ignore anything, I accept them as they are, for they're part of who _you _are." She winked, "Don't hide from me, ever again."

And Riven decided she had had enough talking with the Ionian.

She kissed her fiercely, holding her in place, desperate to convey in such a way how badly she wanted the blue haired woman.

How badly she adored her.

_But we're talking about Irelia Lito, here._

_She must already know._

The same Irelia Lito who hadn't noticed it, earlier.

_Okay, maybe she needs me to show her._

Riven kept kissing her forcefully, her hands finding the hem of Irelia's shirt and pushing it up, commanding the other woman to let her take it off her.

Irelia didn't need to be asked twice.

She pulled away and raised her arms, letting the other woman take her shirt off.

She chuckled when she saw Riven unashamedly staring at her chest. "I can take the bra off too, if you want me to."

Riven nodded her head, "Yes—"

"—But that'll cost you."

Riven's eyes climbed all the way up to hers, "What will it cost me?"

"_These," _Irelia said, her index finger barely touching Riven's chest, the bandages that she had wrapped around it, "Need to go."

She laughed heartily at the way Riven quickly started clawing at herself, eager to take them off.

But then Irelia was holding her wrists.

Tight.

"I get to do it." She said in her authoritative voice, her lips a mere inch away from Riven's.

She liked where it was going. "Yes, my Captain."

Irelia licked Riven's jawline all the way up to her ear, letting out a whispered, "Keep that up." Then, her hands went to the woman's back and, without any kind of warning, she gripped the bandages tight and ripped them from her body.

Riven wanted to kiss her, but Irelia's hand on her throat stopped her from moving forwards, "I didn't allow you to," She said, eyes darkening at the sight of Riven's chest laid bare, "But I do allow you to take mine off."

Riven smirked, "Yes, my Captain," She mumbled, before unclasping the offending piece of clothing, pulling it away from the captain and throwing it to the side.

And staring, unashamedly, once more.

She didn't have much time to do so, though, for Irelia pressed her lips against her own once more, her tongue licking up her bottom lip before biting down on it hard, eliciting a groan to come out of Riven's throat.

The former Noxian flipped them swiftly, placing herself on top of the Ionian, pushing her down with her body.

She felt Irelia's hands come up to her—

She grabbed her by the wrists and pinned both of the Ionian's hands above her head, kissing her harshly on the mouth.

Using only one hand to keep Irelia's in place, she used the other to grab Irelia's jaw and force her to look up, so as to make room to plant open-mouthed kisses on her neck, down to her collarbone, which she bit and licked and kissed, over and over again.

Irelia wanted to complain, wanted to moan out how it was not fair, how she should be the one in charge.

Truth was, she didn't want to be in charge, for a change.

So she allowed Riven's hands to move down to her waist, the Ionian meekly obeying the silent command of keeping her hands above her head.

Riven continued trailing down, her fingers feeling like hot coal on Irelia's skin, her lips on the woman's body forcing shuddering breaths out of her.

Stealing one glance at Irelia's breathless expression, Riven opened her mouth and placed it on one of Irelia's breasts.

She had to keep herself from biting down on the sensitive skin, as she heard Irelia moan out loudly when her tongue came to contact with her nipple.

Deciding she wanted to hear more of that, she continued licking thoroughly, letting one of her hands play with Irelia's other breast, trying to replicate what she was doing with her mouth.

She licked her own fingers between licks and bites, letting her damp digits twist and pinch the other nipple, using her mouth to suck and kiss and bite and lick the one that was trapped by her lips.

"_Riven," _Irelia growled in between sinful moans, not being able to obey her anymore, her hands rushing to the former Noxian's head, gripping her hair tight, pressing her against herself, as if she craved more contact, as if such a thing were possible.

The gesture proved to be enough to turn Riven's blood into liquid ecstasy.

She switched breasts, letting her mouth move to the other, letting her other hand come up to play with the one she had just released, relishing on the constant chanting of her name that Irelia was executing.

She continued with her ministrations until the heat between her legs became too much for her to handle.

She hoped Irelia was under the same circumstances.

A sly smirk formed on those lips of hers as she considered finding out herself.

She made a trail of kisses down Irelia's abdomen, trying not to focus on the muscles she could feel on her way down, the hardness of the other woman's slim body, for she knew she'd trail off her current goal.

She reached the waistline of Irelia's jeans and looked up, her eyes quickly finding Irelia's.

There was no such thing as a question in Riven's red ones.

There was only a warning.

Whatever she wanted to do, it was going to get done.

No asking for permission nor authorization, for she knew she had it, already.

And, after all, Irelia wasn't in control anymore.

Hot glare of red eyes on ice cold blue ones, Riven quickly undid the button and unzipped her pants, before jumping out of the couch and forcefully pulling from the woman's pants.

Irelia sat up, her back landing against the couch's backrest as she pivoted towards Riven, her pants quickly coming off as the white haired warrior threw them to a side before kneeling on the ground, in front of the Captain of the Ionian Guard.

She locked her gaze on Irelia's as her hands slid up the other woman's thighs, stopping only when they found the fabric of her underwear.

Again, with no question whatsoever, she pulled them off.

Unable to hold Irelia's gaze any longer, she allowed herself to look down, her hands pushing Irelia's knees away so as to make more room for herself.

Seeing Irelia already so wet made her go mad with lust.

So Riven brought her mouth closer—

Irelia cried out as she felt Riven's tongue on her, lapping at the wetness of her core before circling her clit, applying the right amount of pressure, going as fast as she needed her to go.

She could grow addicted to it.

To her.

Her hands quickly found Riven's hair again, keeping her in place, as if the former Noxian would ever leave from between her legs.

Riven continued licking her up, pressing her clit with her tongue, before wrapping her lips around it and sucking on it.

The way Irelia moaned out her name was clear indication that she had liked it, so Riven repeated the pattern, hellbent on being the one in charge, but desperate to please the other woman.

She didn't stop as she felt Irelia's body tensing more and more by the second, nor as she heard her jagged breaths speed up.

She didn't stop, but she wanted to do something else.

Considering Irelia was already wet enough, she quickly stood up before sitting back down on the couch, her legs to each side of Irelia's as she straddled her.

She saw the dazed look of confusion on the other woman's face, but it didn't last long, as she entered her with two fingers, pushing them as deep into her as she could, her free hand coming up to her throat, her lips pressing hard against the Ionian's.

She swallowed down each and every moan that she let out, moaning herself as she felt Irelia's tongue inside her mouth, tasting herself off of her own tongue, her fingers thrusting in and out of her, feeling her tighten around them more and more, bit by bit, until—

She pressed hard on her neck and bit down on her bottom lip as she felt her come, crying out in pleasure as she did so, shutting her eyes close.

Letting her ride it out easily, Riven slowly slowed down her thrusting, gently releasing her throat, lovingly kissing and licking the spot she had bit on her bottom lip.

She smirked when she saw Irelia finally open her eyes again, seeing the fog in them as she tried to focus on something, anything, her breathing still ragged, only able to let out a breathless, "_Gods."_

Then those blue eyes locked on hers—

She didn't have time to react as Irelia kissed her hard, pushing herself against the white haired woman, making her stand up and going up with her.

Grabbing her by the waist, without breaking the kiss, Irelia guided them towards the bed, pushing Riven towards it and climbing onto it herself, quickly straddling the other woman.

Riven chuckled, "Irelia—"

"_Shut up," _Irelia commanded in a growl, a hand on Riven's mouth. "My turn," She warned, before kissing the woman on the lips once more, one of her hands keeping her up above the other woman, the other going down to her pants.

"Take them off," She ordered her, the command being spoken against the other woman's lips.

Riven quickly obeyed, helping her take them off her.

Once she was naked, despite her desire to do so, Irelia did not do as Riven had done, for she did not look down.

She kept her eyes on Riven's, analyzing her expression as her fingers slowly explored.

She saw Riven's eyes widen, her mouth open in a silent gasp as the woman finally touched her core.

She smirked, "_This _wet, already?"

Riven closed her eyes—

Irelia pulled away, which made the former Noxian open her eyes once more.

"Look at me or I'll stop," Irelia warned in a low voice, the authoritative air she had adopted turning Riven on even more.

As if such a thing were possible.

So Riven kept her eyes open, not letting her fluttering eyelids close as Irelia's fingers dampened with her wetness and then pressed against her clit, rubbing circles against it.

A smirk formed on Irelia's lips as she moved her fingers lower—

A loud moan escaped Riven's mouth as Irelia entered her, slowly moving in and out of her, her fingers curling up every time she exited her, the Ionian practically dragging them out each time.

She continued doing that, continued pushing them in and pulling them out, watching Riven's expression as the stubborn Noxian refused to close her eyes, all because _her Captain _had commanded her to avoid doing so.

Considering she had been obedient enough, Irelia pulled out completely, bringing her fingers to her mouth as Riven whimpered, licking them clean, before quickly moving down the white haired woman's body.

She didn't give Riven time to think as she got between her legs and licked her up, swallowing the wetness and moaning at the feeling of it, of Riven's nails scratching her scalp and pulling from her hair, of the sound of the former Noxian's voice as she moaned out _Yes, please, yes._

She picked up the pace, licking her up faster, dragging her tongue from her entrance to her clit, kissing and sucking, feeling how the woman was already rather close to her limit.

She wrapped her lips around her clit and quickly switched between sucking and licking, moaning at the sound of Riven's cries, the way the woman moaned out her name, so sinfully beautiful in the tone she was using.

She felt the former Noxian's thighs press against her head, her fingers gripping more tightly, her voice getting strangled—

She kept licking her up as she came, mimicking what the woman had done by slowing down to a halt, letting her enjoy the remnants of her orgasm as she did so.

Once Riven's body relaxed, Irelia climbed up to her once more, a satisfied smirk on her lips.

Upon seeing her once more, Riven placed both of her hands to each side of Irelia's face and kissed her, moaning at the taste of herself on the Ionian's mouth.

"I wanted to do that for quite some time," Irelia confessed against her lips, as Riven pulled away to breathe.

The white haired warrior chuckled, "I wanted to do that for quite some time, too," She told her, before kissing her gently, the kiss being broken by a yawn that escaped Irelia's lips. "I think we should rest."

Irelia shook her head, making a sound of disagreement, "We were doing something important before this," She remembered, "We should—"

"We should _rest," _Riven repeated herself, "The world can wait until tomorrow." Then, a thought crossed her mind, "But if you really want to work now, then prove that you can stay up by letting me—"

"I know _exactly _what you're about to suggest," Irelia cut her off with a smirk of her own, "I don't have the energy for you to fuck me like that again."

Riven laughed at her words, shifting in her position a bit, if only to pull the covers from the bed and above them, "Then I think that tells you all you need to know."

Irelia sighed, getting comfortable on top of the other woman, closing her eyes as she laid her head on her shoulder, "But we got things to do."

Riven finished covering them up, "They've waited this long, I'm sure they can wait a few hours more." She said in a quiet voice, her hand coming up to Irelia's hair, the other going to her waist. "Now, rest up. You need it."

"What about you?"

"Right now, I'm wired enough that all I want is to fuck you senseless."

"Again."

She chuckled, "Again." She repeated, "So I will serve you as a pillow until I fall asleep myself."

Irelia smiled against the woman's sweaty skin, "That pleases me."

"I'm glad it does."

And she could hear the smile on her voice.

So it didn't take long for Irelia to finally fall asleep, the woman she wanted embracing her as she lost consciousness.

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_

About goddamn time, right?

Much love!


	29. Pillow Talk

It was a very strange feeling, she decided.

Waking up calmly was a very strange thing for her.

No scream that choked her up, owning up all the space in her throat.

No nightmare that tried to chase her into reality, plaguing her every thought even as she regained consciousness.

No flaming arrow that pierced the night's sky and killed them all in a burst of flames.

No. None of that. None of the usual.

_The usual._

Not having the usual for once was a very strange thing and made her feel very strange herself, yet Irelia knew she could actually get used to such an uncanny feeling.

She would love to have the chance to get used to such strangeness.

And, truth be told, she knew the reason why she would love to get used to it _wasn't _because of the lack of nightmares, for she was too used to them, already. She even dared say she'd miss them once they were gone.

Because fear and the eventual submission to it could prove _comfortable._

Because she could deal with them, some nights.

And she would always claim that they helped her build her _character, _whenever they were unbearable and dealing with them wasn't an option.

Because fear helped her build her fearless character, even if it was only that; a _character._

A façade.

A mask.

_A lie._

So, no. It wasn't because of the lack of nightmares.

It was because of the _other _thing that was different.

The feeling of waking up in something else rather than solitude, for once.

The arms that were still wrapped around her torso.

The gentle rise and fall of someone else's breathing.

The warm body that laid beside her.

The owner of such a body, covered in scars, stories, myths and legends; strengths and weaknesses.

_Like the weakness on her earlobe._

_Or the one right underneath her jaw, where her pulse can be found._

_Or the one on her inner thigh, which becomes more evident as you run your fingers up along it._

_Or the one on her scalp, only obtainable if you pull her hair._

_And the strength of her hands._

_Her arms._

_Her voice._

_Her lips and teeth and tongue—_

She let out a long exhale through her nose, freezing as the air that she expelled tickled the other woman's neck, making her shift in her sleep.

Riven still held her tight, despite the fact that she was unconscious, pressing her body against the Ionian's, Irelia's face hidden from the world as she laid close to her skin, her lips still pressed against the spot where her shoulder and her neck met.

Comfort made her eyelids flutter close, the Ionian not daring to even breathe as Riven shifted once more at the tickle of her eyelashes.

_She did confess she had a light sleep._

After a bit of shifting, her grip giving away a bit, Riven settled and continued sleeping.

So, slowly, for curiosity proved to almost always get the best of her, Irelia pulled away, not wishing to release herself from the white haired warrior, but hoping to make enough room to see her properly.

Her attempt managed to make Riven grunt and move around again, pulling her in again as she rolled a bit in the opposite direction; not enough to completely turn, but enough to leave Irelia laying against her chest, above her.

_Lucky accident._

She tried again and this time Riven did not move much.

Keeping herself above Riven with her elbow pressed against the mattress, Irelia allowed her eyes to roam.

They didn't move further than the former Noxian's face, though.

_I've seen enough of the rest, last night._

And it was not everyday when she got to see the ruthless warrior from so up close and in so much calm.

Her nose wasn't scrunched up, her eyebrows weren't furrowed, her jaw wasn't locked.

She was calm.

_In peace._

She remembered Riven suffered due to the nightmares, too. More than her.

_To see her sleep in such tranquility…_

Irelia decided it must be a rarity for Riven to manage to sleep properly for once.

_She will feel even weirder than me when she wakes up._

Though she had to admit, the strangeness she felt kept increasing with each second that passed by.

To see Riven's face so devoid of her usual self…

Sure, the woman wasn't _too _expressive, but Irelia had learned how to see the subtleties.

_And once you notice them, you can't really ignore them, anymore._

Being unable to see the mirth in those eyes, the way they'd narrow slightly when she doubted, the faint ghost of a smirk whenever she found something interesting…

...It was eerie, to say the least.

_A good eerie, though._

It was nice to finally be able to see Riven relaxed, even if such a moment had to come when the other woman was unconscious.

_At least this time it's not due to sedatives._

She remained still as she felt Riven's arms around her stiffen for a brief moment, her expression changing slightly as she frowned a bit, before her grip softened once more, her expression becoming neutral again.

_She's just woken up._

And then, as if confirming Irelia's thought, those eyes slowly opened, hazy gaze instantly finding her despite the heaviness of sleep still operating on them.

Red eyes remained on her, unblinking still, "Dream or reality?" She asked her, her voice cracking on her each word she mumbled.

As a response, Irelia smirked and brought two fingers to Riven's neck—

Riven hissed as the blue haired woman pinched her as her own kind of response.

"Okay, reality it is." She concluded, rubbing the sore spot on her neck.

Irelia raised a brow, "Have you dreamt of this enough times that it could have been a dream?"

Riven's smirk mirrored Irelia's, though she narrowed her eyes when she asked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" And, as a thought struck her, she added, "What about you, though?"

"What about me?"

"How many times did _you _dream of—" Irelia didn't let her finish her sentence as she pinched her again, making Riven hiss, "What was that for!?"

Irelia shrugged, "Stupid questions allow for stupid responses. _That _was my response."

Riven tried to keep the angry, sleepy glare, but it quickly washed away. "Fine, I'll take it."

"Does it feel weird for you, too?" Irelia asked her suddenly, knowing very well she didn't need to explain herself.

Riven nodded a bit, "A good weird, though." She said, "Haven't had a good night's sleep since sleeping together on the ship," She confessed, "And this time, well," She chuckled, "It's even stranger than that time." She frowned, "Stranger than I ever dreamt it to be."

"_Oh, _so you _did _dream about this?" Irelia said with a sly smile, taking every moment she found to tease the former Noxian.

Riven rolled her eyes, gently pushing the other woman a bit, "Once or twice. Let me be." She remembered something, then, "Now, there's _one thing _I didn't dream and that was a certain kiss a certain Ionian gave me on a certain ship—"

"Oh _gods," _Irelia said, her palm smacking her own forehead, "You'll never let me live that down?"

Riven laughed, "Not until you tell me what the Hell had that been."

"I think it's pretty obvious."

"Well, not to my thick-skulled head," Riven said with a smile, "So, please, enlighten me. What were you doing, kissing me in my _sleep?"_

Irelia looked away as a blush covered her cheeks, "A woman knows her bodily needs."

"And your bodily need was to kiss me?"

"No, my bodily need was to _finally _kiss you." Irelia confessed, looking at Riven. "I had started training with you in hopes of making amends, finally burying that stupid hatchet of ours and, well…" She sighed, "I may have ended up finding that you actually are _more _than just of my liking."

"How so?"

Irelia closed her eyes, "You're exactly my type," She opened her eyes once more, mirth shining in them as she added, "Completely stupid."

Irelia laughed as Riven's face contorted into one of shock and surprise, covering herself as the former Noxian grabbed a pillow and started hitting her with it, straddling the Ionian so as to be more comfortable in her attack.

"_How dare you call me stupid!" _She said, before throwing the pillow to a side, "And what am I hearing of you having a _type?" _She raised a brow, "The Ionian leader fancies girls and I have to find out by a happy accident, instead of knowing it from the very beginning?"

"Oh, please, Riven," She said, rolling her eyes, "Men don't even _dare _approach me and, honestly? I like it like that. Besides," She shrugged, "Women are better."

Riven nodded her head, "Far superior, indeed." She let herself fall next to Irelia, keeping her head up with her hand as she asked, "So, you've _been _with another woman, before?" She asked, seeing Irelia nod her head. "Do I know her?" And when Irelia looked away, a blush on her cheeks, Riven's jaw dropped, "By the Moon, did you sleep with Sao—"

"_Of course not, you freak!" _Irelia said, completely disgusted, "She's like a _sister _to me, for the Sun's sake."

"Then?" Riven said, watching as Irelia looked away, her face getting redder— "By the _Moon, _please don't tell me you've slept with Akali."

"What if I did—" Irelia's face turned even redder, if such a thing were possible, when Riven started moaning out _By the Moon, I can't believe this— "_What's the problem with it!?"

"I literally _cannot _believe you've slept with _her, _out of _all _people," Riven said.

Irelia rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you're just jealous."

The former Noxian scoffed, "Of _what, _exactly?" She asked, looking at Irelia with a smug look, getting closer to Irelia's lips as she said, "I mean, it's _me _who has you in her bed, not her—"

"Okay, _womanizer," _Irelia cut her off, before obliging and giving her a quick kiss, "I get it."

"I _will _say, though, that she's not your type."

Irelia raised a brow, "How come?"

"Despite what little respect I hold for her, I must admit she's not completely stupid."

Irelia's eyes widened in recognition of her own words, before she chuckled, "I don't have a type."

"That's not what you said a few minutes ago."

"Oh, my _gods—" _Irelia cut herself off as she grabbed a pillow and hit Riven with it, "You're _annoying!" _They rolled around until Irelia ended up on top, still hitting Riven with her pillow. "You gods damned _brat!"_

"Let me _be, _woman!" Riven said, before grabbing the pillow and throwing it to a side, quickly bringing Irelia down as she hugged her tight and pressed her against herself, smiling as she heard Irelia laugh.

Irelia pulled away a bit, mirth slowly fading away as she looked into Riven's eyes.

"I never thought I'd like you," She confessed, eyes scanning Riven's features once more, this time as the woman was awake. "I thought I'd always find a link between you and what had happened that night. I believe I still find that link there but, if anything, now it reinforces how much I need you. To grow, to let go, to move on."

Riven's hand found her cheek, "The thing is, Irelia, that you've never needed me, though," She admitted with a fond smile. "If anything, I've helped you realize things weren't as okay as you thought them to be."

"As I fought to make everyone believe them to be," Irelia corrected her.

"That," Riven agreed. "But the fact remains that there are ghosts that haunt you and you've ran away from them for too long. It was high time you turned to face them."

Irelia nodded her head. "Maybe that's why I was so against your presence in Ionia, at first," She said, looking into Riven's eyes, "You reminded me of too many painful memories."

"You must live through that pain, Irelia." Riven told her, "Maybe I took that one step too seriously and too far, but I'm also learning from it and moving forwards." She smiled once more, "I promise I'll be by your side as we advance through our ghosts, together."

Irelia's smile mirrored her own. "I promise I'll be by your side, too."

"And now that _that's _cleared…" Riven said, raising a brow. "If you didn't _need _me, then it means you _wanted _me."

Irelia rolled her eyes. "I've grown too fond of you."

"And of my body, it seems."

The Ionian smirked, "Can you blame me?" Then, she huffed a laugh, "And what do you have to say for yourself?"

Riven shrugged, "I think you're the last person in Ionia to know I was in too deep for you."

"Riven, you tried to kill me. Literally."

"Okay but that wasn't me, that was the insanity! I'll have you remember, you _knew _what you were signing up for the day you met me _again and _invited me to Ionia."

"And yet I did that." She sighed, "Maybe _you're _the one whose type is _completely stupid."_

"Hey!" Riven said, before hitting Irelia with a pillow, "Don't talk about my Captain like that."

Irelia smiled, "I must admit, I _really _like that."

Riven nodded her head, "I noticed _months _ago."

They laughed, they talked.

About themselves.

About what pained them.

About what they loved.

They didn't mention each other in that last topic, though, for they were ready to accept some things, but they weren't ready to face them like that, just yet.

They knew they were bound together, though.

And, for a while, they forgot the world around them kept on spinning.

The illusion could only last for so long, though.

It lasted up until the moment Irelia's phone rang.

She picked it up and looked at the caller's ID, "It's Vi." And she was about to pick up, but Riven took the phone from her hands and hung up, "What was that for?"

"By now, she should know what we're up to," Riven said. "And she should know that we're short of time before we have to wake up from whatever dream we're living and we have no other choice but to face the music, so let her be on the dark for a bit and let us enjoy the rest of this hour, at least, in this blissful ignorance." She smiled, "What do you say?"

And the Captain of the Guard would have told her that _no, _that such a thing was impossible, considering all the things they had to do, the people they had to fight.

But, at that moment, Irelia was not the Captain of the Guard.

And Riven was looking at her in such a way…

So she snuggled up to her, hiding a smile against her neck as she said, "Okay."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

HELLO! This little update was NOT planned, for this chapter was actually meant to be longer, but I wanted to say bye to 2019 with a small update so, enjoy!

In other news, I'm going to be writing a full ass original story in 2020. I will keep you posted about it if you're interested, and I'd really love to have y'all read that one too, if you trust me as a writer, that is!

And in OTHER news! Get ready for what comes in this story bc it will be... bad LMFAO.

Happy new year!


	30. Rude Interruptions, Correct Assumptions

The banging on the door was enough to wake both of them up with a start.

It made Irelia flinch, trying to quickly get up, but the fact that the scare made Riven grip her tight and pull her close prevented her from leaving the former Noxian's side.

What a bad way to start the day, having to fight an anonymous enemy _naked._

They looked at each other as the banging continued in successions of three hits and a moment of silence, wondering what to do, how to proceed—

"_Open up, you damn bastards!" _They heard Vi's booming voice, a certain undertone of annoyance to it, "_Stop being gross for a minute!"_

Irelia frowned, "How come she doesn't open it with her code?"

She felt Riven shrug, "I may have changed the code while you were sleeping. You snore a bit when you're dead asleep, by the way."

"I what—"

Another three loud bangs, "_Open up!"_

They remained quiet, still underneath the covers, "Do you think that if we're quiet enough," Riven whispered, "She'll go away?"

They listened as two loud bangs came, the third one being cut off before it happened. Frowning at each other, they heard mumbling behind the door before four calmer knocks were heard.

Their frowns deepened in confusion—

"Captain Lito," Another voice said, one which Riven didn't recognize but apparently Irelia did, for she was grimacing, an alarmed look on her face, "It'd be great if you opened the door."

Irelia quickly stood up, running to Vi's wardrobe and getting whatever she could get her hands on, ending up with a black tank top and some training shorts, throwing a red muscle tee and another pair of training shorts in Riven's direction, whispering one command, "_Get dressed!"_

They both dressed up quickly, moving to the door, Irelia trying to compose herself as Riven punched in her new code—

The door got pushed open as soon as it unlocked, Irelia and Riven coming face to face with an annoyed looking Vi and a bored looking Caitlyn.

Irelia's face was red, while Riven simply snorted, trying to stifle a laugh as she said, "I'm guessing you're Caitlyn."

"I am," Caitlyn said, "Glad to see you're back on your wits," Her eyes wandered from the white haired warrior to the blue haired one, "I deduce you weren't the one texting me but I still must ask," She smiled, "Did your _chat _go well?"

Irelia turned red.

"Judging by the clothing," Vi mumbled, raising a brow, "I'd say it went just _dandy."_

Caitlyn raised a brow, letting her eyes roam the two women in front of her, analyzing their clothing and body language. "I'll agree with you on that. Well," She looked at Irelia, then at Riven, "May we come in?"

They moved out of the way, letting the pugilist and the sniper through.

As they moved into the safehouse, Caitlyn walked straight towards the sofa, sitting down, her blue eyes still on Irelia's.

Vi, on the other hand, eyed the mess that was the bed, before looking at the both of them with a smug look on her expression.

Riven stared back with just as much cockiness.

Irelia felt her face heating up, so she pointedly ignored her. "Seeing Vi around here is something I've come to expect, but I definitely didn't expect to see you, Sheriff."

"Well, desperate times call for desperate measures," Caitlyn said, squaring her shoulders when she said, "We've got a lead on Singed that might be of your interest and, considering how delicate the situation we're in is —with Noxians on your tail and Urgot on the lead —We decided it was better if we came here, instead of making you both go back to Piltover."

"A lead?" Riven asked with curiosity, moving towards the couch and taking a seat.

"We've discovered they're trying to hunt down a…" Caitlyn raised her brows, "How do I put it—"

"A _crazy mutant," _Vi offered an interpretation. "Urgot and Singed appear to be interested in hunting down a… _Man _who goes by the name _Dr. Mundo."_

Irelia frowned as she walked towards the couch, sitting right next to Riven, "Judging by the way you said it, he's no man and no doctor, either."

Vi joined in, sitting next to Caitlyn, "He isn't," The Sheriff said, "He must have been human at some point, that's certain, but he isn't anymore. His skin is purple, his body is unnaturally big—"

"And he's completely insane." Vi said, earning a glare from Caitlyn, which she shrugged off, "What? He _is."_

"Being insane doesn't make him any less human," Caitlyn raised a brow, "I'll have you remember you're completely bonkers too and yet I still consider you rather…" She clicked her tongue, eyes wide, as if she had just realized she was wrong, "Nevermind. You're right."

It took Vi a full three seconds to realize what just happened, reacting with an offended _Hey! _While Caitlyn hid a smile by looking away.

"I don't understand," Riven said, cutting their banter off, "Why would they look for him? What's there for them to earn from finding an unstable, not-human being?"

"According to different tests that have been run on Dr. Mundo decades ago, he cannot feel any sort of pain." Caitlyn explained. "To top that off, his body heals itself inexplicably fast; shoot him on the chest and the bullet wound will be healed in a matter of hours."

"We believe that Urgot wants to become a little bit like Dr. Mundo in the sense of being unable to feel pain and possessing the ability to heal so quickly," Vi said, a frown on her focused expression, "Which, I bet you can imagine, is not a very good thing for the rest of us."

"How come you both know this much about what happens in Zaun, when your jurisdiction is Piltover?" Irelia couldn't help herself as she asked, "Was that chatter all just to rile me up that one time, Sheriff?"

"This is quite out of our jurisdiction, Captain, I'll agree with you on that," She started, "We did not lie when we told you Zaun is not, theoretically speaking, our problem. The thing is that both Piltover and Zaun exist in a sort of mutualism; one cannot survive without the other, no matter how badly we want that to be true," She said, looking at Irelia, "So a certain balance must be maintained. That's why Piltover's police force _will _get involved in Zaun's complications, whenever said complications are far too difficult for Zaun to deal with by themselves."

Irelia nodded her head, "I see."

What she did not see, though, was Vi's expression.

Riven was the one to catch it.

The tense jaw, the unfocused gaze as she tried to drown out Caitlyn's voice in her head.

_Irelia did tell me she's originally from Zaun._

_Maybe there _is _a side to her boss that she does not enjoy._

_The entitled, arrogant, bigoted one._

"Interesting lead, I'll say," Riven said, cutting off the whole _Piltover-Zaun _talk, for Vi's sake, "But I believe we're still rather _empty-handed. _No matter whether they're after this Dr. Mundo or not, we still have no real way of finding them."

"Finding Mundo is easier than finding Urgot or Singed," Vi replied, "I mean, for starters, he's easier to identify; big, purple, insane. And second," She smirked, "He's got a thing for… _curing _patients on the streets."

"What?"

"He goes around butchering people, thinking he's helping them feel better." Caitlyn explained. "He's quite erratic, but what isn't is the trail he leaves behind; bodies, blood and Singed's footsteps as he goes after him."

Riven's grip on the couch's cushions tightened. "Singed," She repeated.

Caitlyn nodded her head, but it's Vi the one who spoke, "We've got someone who might be able to lure Mundo in."

Riven and Irelia shared a long look, before Irelia spoke, "I'm guessing that means you've got a plan."

Vi nodded her head, "I _do _have a plan, but you're going to need help with it."

Both Riven and Irelia raised their brows at that.

"Singed is definitely _not _tracking Mundo on his own," Caitlyn started, "And Mundo alone is already quite problematic."

The huff of a laugh escaped Irelia's lips, "Are you implying what I _think _you're implying, Sheriff?"

Caitlyn chuckled, "Please, Captain, I'm _not _helping you. Neither is Vi. We are just _accidentally _passing by Zaun and we will _coincidentally _come across you two while you both chase criminals." She shrugged, "That's all."

Vi leaned over Caitlyn, getting close to her ear as she mumbled, "I'm guessing we will not be doing paperwork regarding this _escapade, _no?"

Caitlyn looked at her, frowning eyes and confusion all over her face as she said, "What escapade? I don't know what we're discussing here. This," She pointed all around her, at all of them, "Never happened."

Vi smiled, an exaggerated expression of gratitude on her face as she pretended to be about to cry when she said, "You're a godsend, I love you."

Riven snorted at that.

Vi glared.

Caitlyn noticed.

"Okay," Irelia started, ready to pull them away from Vi's love interests, "So, what's the plan?"

"Well, if we want to find Singed, we must find Mundo first," Vi said, "It isn't _that _easy, you see, but I know someone who has had Mundo's eyes on him for a while, so as long as we stick to him, we should find the purple man in no time."

"The idea is to follow Vi's contact from secured hiding spots, waiting for Mundo to arrive." Caitlyn picked up from where Vi left it. "Once he does, he's going to try and kill our contact, but he's clever enough to survive. We shall not intervene nor come out of our positions until Singed arrives; It's _then_ that we appear and catch him."

Riven narrowed her eyes. "Okay, I'm guessing your contact is a honed warrior, then."

Vi nodded her head, a smug look on her expression. "Something better like that."

* * *

"_A kid!?"_

"_He's not a kid," _She heard Vi's voice over the comm on her ear, "_Not really."_

Riven and Irelia shared a long look, both of them feeling the same uneasiness at Vi's plan; to contact some kid who lived in the slums of Zaun, letting him know about their plan and thus pushing him into letting them all follow him, thus ending up following Mundo and, lastly, Singed.

The plan wasn't _all _that bad, to be honest. It was the best they had, but…

...But Vi hadn't bothered enough to tell them that the contact was, apparently, an orphaned _teenager._

She hadn't talked with him about the plan, either, leaving that task on Riven and Irelia's hands, for reasons unknown.

So, with their hextech equipment at the ready, one breath away from activating, thus armoring them and weaponizing them, they both walked slowly around the slums, alarmed, unsure about it all, trying to reason with a pink haired pugilist and her cold boss as they followed from a safe distance.

"He's basically a teenager who lives in the streets," Irelia retorted, backing up Riven, "He is not only a kid, but a homeless one, at that." She frowned, "Aren't you supposed to take care of those in need?"

"_Trust me," _Caitlyn's voice came from the other side of the communication instead of Vi's, all of them in one same channel, "_He is _not _in need."_

"Whatever," Riven said, frowning in worry, "How will we find him, anyway?"

"_He'll be—"_

"Behind you."

They both turned around at the sound, their equipment sensing the sudden rush of adrenaline, quickly turning on and getting them ready to fight—

No one was there.

"I said _behind _you."

They both turned again, this time seeing the owner of the voice.

A boy, a bit shorter than them, with black skin, white hair and a white hourglass painted over his face glared at them, a sort of metal club being on his grip as he laid its' end on the ground, leaning his body over it with a relaxed look, body language, not even flinching as they got ready to attack him, a few feet away from him. "Relax, relax, ladies," He said, not bothering to get defensive, "No need to get like that," He huffed a laugh, "It's not like it would help you much with me, anyways."

Riven was still about to attack—

"_Don't," _She heard Vi's voice on the other side of the comm, "_That's him."_

"You're Ekko, aren't you?" Irelia mused out loud, just to be sure, "Vi's friend?"

He scoffed, "I'm not her _friend," _He said, "But yeah, I'm Ekko. Where is she, though?"

"What would you want her for?" Riven asked him.

He crossed his arms over his chest, "Is she so scared of facing her truth in the eyes that she sends some rookies in her stead?"

"Her truth?"

Ekko narrowed his eyes, "That she's a sellout."

"What a way to talk about your friend," Riven said, raising a brow.

"I told you, she's _not _my friend. Now, regarding you two, Pilties," He rolled back his shoulders, releasing some tension from them, "You're still on time to go home."

"We're not _Pilties," _Irelia started, "And we're _not _going home."

"Vi said you would help us," Riven interfered, before he could reply.

"Because I owe her one, for reasons I will _not _tell you, not while you got that comm over your ear." He said, making them both believe that maybe the debt Vi's owed is due to helping him escape from the claws of justice, "I just didn't imagine she wouldn't have the guts to come ask for a favor _herself, _that's all."

"Because the favor's not for her," Irelia said, trying to calm down his spirits, "It's for us."

Ekko frowned, "What do you want?"

"You can find Mundo, no?" Riven said, nodding her head, "We need to find him."

Ekko narrowed his eyes, "What for?"

Riven raised a brow, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I would, actually," He said, not trusting them, "You see, last guy who wanted to find him, wanted to use him for experimenting."

"Well, we just want to find him so that we can find the last guy who wanted to find him," Irelia said, honestly, earning a frown from Riven, which made her look at the former Noxian and say, "What? Might as well tell him. No reason why we should hide that part."

The information _did _surprise Ekko, "You're not after _Mundo, _exactly, then?" He asked, making them both shake their heads.

"We're after Singed."

He raised one brow, "What for?"

Riven was about to speak, feeling like antagonizing him, but Irelia spoke first, "That's something we cannot really tell you," She shrugged, "All we can say is that we do not wish to _befriend _him, if that's what you're hoping to prevent."

"We're actually here to _unfriend _him."

"Even if we were never really _friends."_

Ekko looked at them both, a serious frown on his expression, "Let me see if I got this straight—" He stopped himself, flinching, as if hit by a thought, his eyes wandering from Irelia, to Riven, before he twisted his body as he looked for something in one of his back pockets.

They both stared at him, Riven with curiosity, Irelia with worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," He said, before finding what he was looking for, "Here," He added, turning to give what he had been looking for to Riven, "Take—"

He flinched again, watching Riven as he blinked once, twice, three times, before quickly turning to Irelia, "Take this," He said, giving it to her, instead of the former Noxian.

Irelia stared at her own hands only to find—

"A _stopwatch?" _She asked with a raised brow, "Why would you ever give me this?"

"When you feel like…" He searched for a word, "...Like stopping." He said, before nodding, "Yeah, like stopping." He looked into Irelia's eyes, nodding once more, "It's important you use it _only _then."

Irelia raised a brow, "When I feel like _stopping?"_

He nodded, "You'll know when the time is right."

Irelia was quite confused, "Okay…?"

Riven shook her head, as if trying to snap out of the weird interaction, "Will you help us or not?"

Ekko nodded his head, "Yeah, I will. After this, though, I owe nothing to Vi."

"_Tell him I'm good with that."_

"She's okay with it," Riven said, "So, guide us to the purple man."

Ekko nodded, "Let's go Mundo-hunting."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Can you feel the end coming closer?


	31. Old Friends

"How long until he arrives?"

"_Don't know. Don't ask."_

Irelia rolled her eyes. "Fine, kid. Won't ask again."

"_You said so last time and yet—"_

"This time it's for real." Irelia said, hoping that would shut him up.

It did.

Riven and her were walking on a rooftop, following Ekko as he strolled throughout the Zaunite slums, alone, waiting for Mundo to appear.

"_It would be great if he appeared already, though," _They heard Vi's voice on the comm, reminding them that Vi and Caitlyn were also there, hiding somewhere, even if they didn't know where.

They heard Ekko scoff, "_You'd better stay quiet, sellout."_

Irelia raised her brows, surprised at how Ekko talked to Vi.

And how Vi replied with silence.

"You've still got my crestblades, Vi?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

She heard a chuckle, before Vi's voice came alive in her ear, "_Of course I do. Safe and sound, in my gauntlets' compartment, but you'll only need the _clearly superior _ones I made you."_

Irelia laughed, ready to retort—

"_I think I said _quiet."

And that's how Ekko made them all shut up.

_Maybe adding him onto our communication hadn't been a very wise idea._

After Ekko agreed to help them, they handed him a comm which he quickly turned on and started using while they hid from plain sight.

And ever since then, he hadn't stopped trash talking both Caitlyn and Vi.

Caitlyn ignored him out of boredom; both Riven and Irelia knew her well enough already that they knew her silence was due to her deeming him not important enough that she'd have to answer.

But Vi…

Vi's silence was not out of a pointed ignorance.

Vi's silence was out of discomfort; they hadn't known her for long enough, that was true, but it was the first time in all the moments they had spent with the Enforcer that they heard her being so _quiet._

So _small._

_So meek._

_Where did all your feistiness go to, Vi?_

Irelia guessed she could ask her _later, _if she really wanted to know.

Truth be told, she was curious about what the deal was between that Ekko boy and her.

Now was not the right time to ask, though.

And, stealing one glance at Riven, she knew she had someone else to worry about.

She turned off her communicator for a second, stretching her fingers to Riven's and turning hers off too, before she said, "What's troubling you?"

Riven looked at her, raising a brow, "What's troubling me?"

But Irelia knew better; she had seen it on the way her eyes were on the ground, a frown on her expression as she bit the inside of her cheek.

So, after a long no-nonsense look from her Captain, Riven sighed.

"I guess I don't feel ready to deal with him yet." She looked up at the dark, smoggy sky, before sighing and saying, "Truth be told, I doubt I'll ever feel ready, though, so I might as well deal with him now, you know?"

"You're not ready to face Singed?"

Riven shook her head, "To be fair, I don't know how I feel about that one," She said as she scrunched up her nose, "The one I know I'm not ready to face yet is Cyrus." She sighed, "There's a lot that the simple fact of knowing we're eventually going to deal with him makes me think of."

Irelia raised a brow at that. "What do you think of?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Irelia." Riven said, an apologetic look on her face, "I'm sorry."

Irelia's gaze softened a bit, "I see," She simply said, before looking ahead and nodding her head, Riven occupying her thoughts.

A few seconds passed before Riven felt the need to talk again, if only to change the topic, "What a weird kid, this Ekko boy, no?"

Irelia snapped out of it, nodding her head vigorously. "He's completely insane, if you ask me. I mean," She took the stopwatch the boy had given her from her pocket and inspected it. "What on all of Valoran did he mean by _use it when you feel like stopping?"_

Riven took a look at it, noticing the position the minute hand was in: it was set exactly on the number ten, as if it had been used before, but no one bothered to reset it.

"Beats me," She said, responding to Irelia's question, "He gave you a faulty stopwatch," Riven mused out loud, "Or, at least, he didn't set it back to zero." She moved her hand towards it, "Maybe you should—"

"_No," _Irelia sentenced, pulling the watch away, "He didn't tell me to reset it, so we are definitely not resetting it."

Riven raised a brow, "So what? You're just going to press a button whenever you feel like it?"

Irelia shrugged, before nodding her head, "Yeah, I'll press a button whenever I feel like _stopping, _like he so kindly advised me_."_

Riven chuckled as she shook her head, "If you say so."

Irelia kept inspecting it, "But yeah, I agree," She said, making Riven look at her, "He _is _a weird kid."

"He was about to give _me _the watch," Riven remembered with a frown, "But then he decided against it and gave it to you. What's up with that?"

Irelia shrugged, "Maybe he trusts that I _will _remember to _stop, _at some point, and knows that you wouldn't use it properly."

Riven rolled her eyes, "As if there were a wrong way of using a stopwatch."

"You were about to reset it. If someone is unfit to keep it and follow his instructions, it's definitely you."

"And he _already knew _that, so that's why he chose you over me, huh?" Riven said, raising a brow, a smug, no-nonsense look to her eye as she laughed Irelia off, "Sure."

Irelia shrugged, "It's as possible as it is not possible." She heard Riven hum in reluctant agreement, before she added, "Or maybe he simply found me nicer and he gave it to me because he fancied me better."

Riven let out a bark of a laugh, "That's _definitely _it."

Irelia laughed with her, sharing a long look, a bit of quiet silence.

Then, Riven's vow of silence broke. "He makes me think of myself."

Irelia simply looked at her.

In the quiet, Riven continued, "I feel like facing him is a way of facing myself," She thought of it for a second, "My old self," She clarified, "The Noxian that wanted Ionia destroyed." She sighed, "The _thing _I got living inside my head."

Irelia frowned, "The _thing?"_

Riven looked at her, "You know…" She looked nervous about it, "When I _lose it?"_

It took Irelia a few seconds, but she eventually got what Riven meant. "Oh."

_The runic madness._

Riven looked away, "He makes me think of all of that."

Irelia nodded her head, "I see." She thought for a second, searching for what to say, before a thought struck her, "It's logical for all of these things to haunt you, Riven." She told her, "You just got out of a bad place and you're already hurtling yourself to another one. It's only fair that your mind is afraid, therefore conjuring up such thoughts."

Riven nodded, "I know, but I wish it would stop."

"It won't stop anytime soon, Riven," Irelia told her, a sad look in her eye, "I'm telling you this from experience," She confessed, "But there is something that I do, whenever I feel surrounded by my fears."

She stopped walking, grabbing Riven by the arm, making her stop, too.

Then Irelia placed both of her hands on the Noxian's shoulders and, while staring at her in the eye, a glare on her face, she said, "I mold _all _of my fears into a human shape. I put a face on them, the face I want to defeat, and then I say _I'm bigger than you, _over and over again, until my image of myself in my head is big enough to stomp my fears out, until they're nothing but dust on the ground." She released Riven, "Last time I did so, I used Zed's face."

Riven snorted, "_Zed? _The Kinkou ninja that had been giving you trouble?"

Irelia nodded her head, "What can I say? I _hate _him."

Riven smirked, "I can tell."

Irelia shrugged, before she remembered what they were doing there, "I guess we should turn our communicators on again, wouldn't want them noticing we've been gone for this long."

Riven nodded her head, "You're right."

But before Irelia could turn hers on, she pulled her in by her hood as she gripped its' sides with both hands, kissing her once, letting out a small, "Thank you for that," As she pulled away, "I needed it."

Irelia stared, before slowly nodding her head, "Yeah, it was no problem," She said in a light tone, as if she had forgotten what they were talking about in the first place.

Riven chuckled at the image, before letting her go.

And as they turned them on again, they were expecting to hear them chatting a bit.

What they weren't expecting was to hear them screaming at them.

Amongst their screaming, Irelia stopped them all by letting out a loud, "What's going on!?"

"_Finally you two decide to appear!" _They heard Vi's voice on the other side of the comm, "_Stop being idiots and come closer, Mundo is already here!"_

"Shit," Riven cursed between teeth, "Let's go," She said as they both ran on the rooftops, following Vi's instructions, until they ended up above a dead end.

On the rooftop opposite to theirs, they saw both Vi and Caitlyn; the Enforcer in full armor, ready to spring into action. The Sheriff, on the other hand, was positioned, sniper rifle at the ready, her eye on its' scope.

"_Not yet," _They heard Caitlyn's voice on the comm, the women too far away to speak to them without shouting, "_Only Mundo arrived."_

"_We must wait until Singed gets here," _Vi added.

"Got it," Irelia said, as she and Riven both crouched, getting as out of vision as possible as they watched the scene underneath them.

Mundo was a gigantic _monster, _they decided.

Irelia and Riven watched how Ekko fought Mundo off, basically _playing _with the big, bouldering, purple man; they saw him move around the monstrous figure, like a fly which teases someone who's about to sleep; almost at reach, but always away enough that's safe.

Irelia frowned as she studied him; Ekko looked tired and hurt but then he _blinked _out of reach, disappearing and reappearing on a position where he had been a few seconds ago, and suddenly he was no longer looking tired nor hurt.

_That's uncanny._

But no one made a comment about it, so she decided to be quiet about it.

She guessed there were more pressing matters than the fightstyle of some boy.

She heard Riven's breathing as the woman inhaled and exhaled slowly and deeply through her mouth, so she turned to look at her, only to find her staring at Ekko with a furrowed brow and twitching hands.

She wasn't nervous; she was _desperate._

Her lips were moving, so Irelia's eyes naturally fell on them.

Like a mantra, she was mouthing the same words, over and over again.

_I am bigger than you, I'm bigger than you, I'm bigger than you._

And besides feeling proud of herself, for how she had helped the former Noxian, Irelia couldn't help but wonder.

_What's the face your fears have?_

"Hey," Irelia called for her, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, trying not to overthink when Riven flinched, before moving those red eyes to her, "It's going to be okay."

Riven shook her head, "I don't know about that," She confessed, "I think it won't be that easy." She looked at Irelia in the eye, concern evident in her own as she said, "I just hope I don't lose it again."

Irelia raised her brows, "_Lose it?"_

Riven nodded her head, "I keep having these flashes of that night inside my head," She shut her eyes, her voice quieter when she said, "I try to will them away, but—"

"_Those are just intrusive thoughts, Riven," _Caitlyn's calm voice came from the other side of the communication, reminding them that they were being heard, "_They are there just to pester you, but they won't bring you any harm if you can see them for what they are: rubbish your mind has trouble taking out."_

"Yeah, listen to her," Irelia said, moving closer, "It's nothing but trash your mind is trying to take out." She told her in a gentle voice, repeating Caitlyn's train of thought, "Pay it no mind."

Riven tried to slow down her breathing. "Okay," She said, still looking a bit nervous.

"It's okay," Irelia repeated, "I guess that knowing we will face Singed soon is messing with you," She explained, taking off the hood of her hextech armor, "But don't worry. This time," She made Riven look at her again, before pulling her closer, her forehead against Irelia's, "We're both on the same side of history."

Riven's breathing finally slowed to a normal pace, "That's true," She said, nodding her head a bit, "Thank you," Upon seeing confusion on Irelia's face, she added, "For being the one that keeps her head cool."

"You have nothing to thank me for." Irelia said, before releasing her, "Now," She got her hood on again, "Let's—"

"_There!" _They heard Vi's voice on the comm, making them both look at her, watching as one of those big gauntlets moved, a mechanical finger pointing at the fighting happening underneath them. "_Look there!"_

They followed the finger's aim.

Riven's breath hitched.

A slender, tall man, with no hair on his head, a mask hiding the lower half of his face, a big amphora strapped to his back.

Riven didn't need to see him from up close to know that it was him.

_Singed._

"_Shit," _They were all quite surprised to hear _Caitlyn _swear and she knew as much, so she explained, "_Look behind him."_

And it was then that they understood _what _had prompted her to curse.

Slowly, as if crawling into the light, they saw a whole _sea _of bodies moving towards Ekko and Mundo.

Three arms, or maybe three legs. One without limbs.

"_Urgot's army of deformed people."_

"_Vi," _Caitlyn said her name in a scolding tone, "_Please. That's rude."_

"_Okay, my bad." _She apologized, "_Urgot's group of _enhanced _followers."_

"_That's better."_

"There's too many of them," Irelia said, her eyes on their freakish forms, "I think we should—"

But she couldn't finish her sentence, for she saw Riven moving towards the edge of the rooftop.

She saw what the woman intended to do, panic flashing through her eyes as she tried to stop her, "_Riven—"_

But she didn't manage to catch her as the former Noxian jumped into the fight.

A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes followed Riven, as the warrior landed on the ground, standing up, all eyes on her.

She ignored Mundo and Ekko as she marched, step after step, her lips moving fast as she kept repeating _I'm bigger than you _underneath her breath over and over again.

Her eyes were on Singed, too busy focusing on him to see anything of what was happening around her.

_I'm bigger than you, I'm bigger than you, I'm bigger than you._

And, truth be told, she wasn't imagining Singed's face as her fear's face.

She was imagining her own.

She had always imagined her own.

So, ignoring how Mundo and Ekko resumed their fighting, she kept marching towards Singed, her eyes on him.

And when he finally laid his eyes on her, he raised his brows, and did the one thing he could do that could make Riven mad.

He turned and ran.

Gritting her teeth, growling in anger, she started running after him.

But Urgot's followers were still there, approaching Mundo and Ekko, who said, "_A little help, here?"_

"_We'll help him out," _Vi told Irelia through the comm as she jumped into the fight, "_Follow them!"_

So, without needing anything else to proceed, Irelia started running after Riven and Singed.

"Riven!" She roared on her comm as she sprinted after them, still on the rooftops, "Stop!"

But Riven was having none of it, "If I stop, he escapes," She let out between jagged breaths, still running after him. "I won't let it happen."

So Irelia had no choice but to follow after Riven, who followed after Singed.

She jumped into the air and willed her hextech blades underneath herself, riding them in the air as she tried to catch up with them.

She caught up with Riven in no time, grabbing her by the arm and bringing her up onto her blades with her, but Singed was a far different story.

"How is he so fast?" She asked Riven as they tried to speed up, tried to reach him, but to no avail, as the man ran like crazy.

"I don't know," Riven said, "But go _faster."_

"I'm _trying," _Irelia growled at her, "It's not that easy, you know?"

Riven rolled her eyes, "So much for _gnarly blade."_

Irelia glared at her, unsure whether Riven was _actually _playing with her or was being serious, but Riven's eyes were on Singed, so she was too busy staring at him to even notice.

Irelia looked ahead again, some of her anger already dissipating.

_Guess there's too much going on in her head to add one more thing._

They followed him, street after street, turn after turn, watching him run like a madman, falling short and never reaching him, but managing to never lose sight of him.

It was then that they entered a very narrow, long alleyway, almost like a tunnel.

And it was then that Singed looked back at them _once._

Then, as he turned to look ahead again, they saw as a few vents located on the amphora opened, releasing some sort of purple gas into the air.

A gas thick enough that it remained in place, right where he had released it.

And they were running straight to it.

There was no time to try and dodge it.

Riven tried covering her mouth and nose with her hand, while Irelia used the side of her cape as they entered the thick cloud of purple smoke, both of them having inhaled a big gulp of fresh air, holding it in for as long as they could.

Well, _fresh. _As fresh as it could be, being in Zaun.

During the first few seconds inside the cloud, they managed just fine, with Riven's eyes burning and Irelia's managing to be spared from such pain as her hood's visor protected them from the toxic smoke.

It was after a little bit that they couldn't keep the air in no longer.

Riven started to let the air in her lungs out as slowly as possible, knowing this could maybe help her keep herself from breathing in for longer.

Irelia saw her and mimicked her, despite knowing she lacked that level of discipline.

They kept speeding through the cloud of toxicity basically blind, with Riven's eyes burning, teary and closed, with Irelia's wide open, though the thickness of the gas didn't let her see anything.

And it proved to be quite problematic.

So desperate were they to leave the cloud of toxic gas that they didn't think that maybe there obstacles hidden in it, with them.

So, when Irelia _saw _the wall —the alley's dead end —it was already too late for her to try and stop before clashing against it, for they were just a hair's breadth away from it.

They impacted it and fell to the ground, her blades along with them.

And the impact made them both lose the breath they were so slowly exhaling.

They didn't mean to, but the startle they suffered, along with the way they both stared at the dead end, confused as to _where _Singed had gone, made them forget, if only for a brief second, that they shouldn't be breathing.

And as they both inhaled, they both suffered the consequences.

As if breathing a fire's smoke, it was like they couldn't get any oxygen from the purple gas, only something that made their insides itchy and painful as it travelled to their lungs.

But they couldn't keep that toxic air in either, for it forced them to cough it out, thus trapping them in a constant loop of inhaling, coughing it out, inhaling again.

While in coughing fits, they both moved towards the wall that trapped them, quickly discovering it wasn't a wall, but what looked like the entry to a warehouse.

Singed could have only gone one way, then.

Irelia couldn't focus enough to bring her blades up, which left her only with her hands as she desperately used them to search the wall, the door, in hopes of finding a button, _something, _that would open it up.

Riven was not helping.

She turned to look at her, only to find her on all fours, coughing on the ground, before desperately crawling towards the entry and attempting the same thing she had been trying herself.

Only faster.

She really wanted to get out of the smoke.

Seconds kept passing, though they felt like hours.

No avail.

But then, as Irelia slid down to the ground, her consciousness being lost to the dizzy fog of her brain, the product of Singed's toxic air, she saw Riven wasn't affected as she was.

With what little focus remained in her brain, she concentrated on the former Noxian.

She found her breathing rapidly, with no coughing to interrupt her, as if it didn't affect her, anymore.

She moved her eyes from Riven's mouth to her eyes—

She saw them closed.

She moved her hand to Riven's shoulder—

She opened them and was looking at her.

They were green.

She quickly stood, which prompted Irelia to get up, too, even if it proved to be quite a difficult task.

Riven slid her hand down through her blade, making it display its' final, deadliest form.

Grabbing Irelia by the collar of her cape, she moved her behind her and, ferociously, she began striking the entry to the warehouse.

And there was no form to her attempts, no grace, no calculation whatsoever.

What Riven was doing was a full display of brutality.

And, in her ferocious rage, in her desire to break through and get in, she was managing to break the door down.

Irelia watched as Riven lost her wits against the obstacle that prevented them from reaching Singed and trapped them in a cloud of deadly smoke.

And she watched as, with one final hit, the entry to the warehouse was finally destroyed as Riven managed to make it snap, bending its' metal in with her strength.

She turned and grabbed Irelia by the collar again, this time pulling her in with her as she moved into the new area, away from the smoke, pushing the metal open with her body as she did so.

As they got away from the alley, Riven turned and closed the metal again, so as not to let the smoke in.

And, in the new, breathable area, Irelia allowed herself to take desperate gulps of air, coughing out what she could of Singed's toxic attack.

She watched Riven as her ragged breathing slowly calmed down.

She approached Riven as she fell on her knees.

She kept her eyes on Riven's as she saw them close.

When Riven's breathing finally calmed down, she opened them again.

And the green dissipated into red.

_What the Hell was that._

Riven kept breathing, her eyes on Irelia's, "Still there, even if it's fading," She whispered. "But trust me, I feel it: not long until it's really gone." She got up on her feet and offered Irelia her hand.

Irelia took it, letting Riven pull her onto her feet, with a lot of questions and no answers.

_She can control it?_

She remembered that one time they fought against each other, which ended with both of them with blades against their necks.

She _had _controlled it, then.

_Come to think about it, she had always controlled it, save for that time after her blade got destroyed._

_Not long until it's really gone._

_Maybe she can feel it fading away, maybe it's not as strong as it was before._

_Maybe that was the last time she could call upon her runic power._

_It would have been too short of a time if she had already, completely cured herself of it._

And, if she was honest, Riven's curse had just proved to, sometimes, be a blessing.

She decided she could interrogate the former Noxian _later. _There were more pressing matters at the moment.

Neither of them were too sure of what Singed's gas had done to them but one thing was certain: as soon as they were breathing fresh air once more, the symptoms they felt —the coughing, the slowly approaching loss of consciousness —disappeared.

But their bodies were _too _weak, barely able to stand.

The brain fog remained, at least for Irelia.

And it was only then that she noticed that her new blades had been left outside.

_Shit._

She tried to will them to obey, tried to will them to come towards her, but Vi's blades had one flaw when analyzed in comparison to hers; if she didn't have clear sight of them, the neuronal connection that allowed her to move them could not be made.

"You should have done the sensible thing and remained _dead, _Captain."

His voice was nothing but an echo that reverberated through the dark warehouse, but it still brought a shiver down Riven's spine, even if she did not let it show, masking her emotions with the anger she felt.

Irelia looked at her, concern forming a frown on her face, the uncertainty that clouded her already cloudy mind making her feel the need to tell her to turn back, to open that damned entry, to let her pick her blades again.

But she knew Riven wouldn't listen.

Not now, not with things the way they were at the moment.

_And Vi has my crestblades._

She bit the inside of her cheek only to keep herself from groaning out loud.

Weaponless, she had no other choice but to grab her own from outside. If not, she was practically useless.

She _had _to warn Riven about it, there was no other way.

"Come out," Riven growled, well aware that he already knew her exact location. "Let's have a _chat."_

Irelia moved closer to her, "_Riven—"_

Laughter was heard, carried to every corner of the dark room as it bounced from wall to wall, getting more and more distorted with each second that passed. "I guess I could entertain you, considering the amount of poison you've inhaled will kill you in a few minutes."

That alerted both of them.

Riven growled, "That's a _lie!"_

"It's quite true, Captain." He said, "Don't you feel how your body slowly gets number?"

Irelia looked at her own, trembling hands.

When was the last time she could properly feel her fingers?

They wouldn't fully bend, either.

_He's telling the truth._

_We're both dead._

Riven roared, "_Come out!"_

"I'm right here."

And, at his words, the lights in the warehouse were turned on.

They weren't inside some storage room of sorts.

They were in his _lab._

A big, humongous laboratory, with a second level and a high ceiling. To their right, a _corpse _hung limply in the air, chains holding him from his every limb, his body modified and altered, looking nothing like a human being anymore. To their left, Singed's table, stacked with different potions and poisons, utensils he probably used to torture his _experiment _and who knows what else. At the far end of the laboratory, a green-gas chamber, empty.

And right in the middle of the room, Singed.

They couldn't see his face, but they both knew he was _smiling._

"Come and get me, Captain."

And Riven didn't have to be told twice.

With a battle cry, she ran towards him, sword at the ready.

Singed didn't even move.

It all felt _too easy _to Irelia. Nevermind the inevitable death that loomed over them, upon breathing the scientist's poison.

Riven was only a few feet away from him, Singed still didn't move.

She jumped in the air, got her sword ready—

Irelia felt her heart stopping as she saw _an arrow _hit Riven.

Right on her armor's hextech engine.

Irelia looked up at the laboratory's second level.

There was a man.

He was pulling from a _bow's string._

_Cyrus._

Irelia felt panic rushing through her body.

_It was a trap._

She looked at Riven again, watching as Singed moved a side, the former Noxian turning her head to look at her—

Irelia couldn't help the scream that escaped her throat as she saw a second arrow land on Riven, this time piercing her flesh, entering one side of her neck, its' tip coming out from the other.

Riven fell to her knees, before falling face first to the ground, the arrow that had been stuck in her chest finally being pushed in, coming out of her body through her back, the armor's resistance gone as it had been rendered useless.

And just like that, with just two arrows and the abuse of her own stubbornness, Riven was dead.

"Hopefully, now you _will _remain dead, Captain," Singed said, before his eyes moved to Irelia. "And now, what to do about your _friend?_"

But Irelia wasn't listening to him, to his taunting, to his voice.

She could only hear silence as she stared at Riven's lifeless body.

She felt a presence that urged her to look up and, after putting some effort on, she managed to move her eyes upwards.

Cyrus was aiming at her.

It reminded her of the fiery arrow that killed her friends, that killed Riven's friends.

Her hand moved towards her pocket.

She found the stopwatch.

_Whenever I feel like stopping._

The arrow was released.

And right before it hit her on the neck, the one weak spot of both Riven's armor and hers, Irelia decided she felt like stopping.

She pressed the stopwatch's button.

_Stop._

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Wait that didn't go as planned


	32. Instructions Unclear

"What's troubling you?"

Riven looked at Irelia, raising a brow, "What's troubling me?" She asked, feigning nonchalance.

But Irelia knew better; she had seen it on the way her eyes were on the ground, a frown on her expression as she bit the inside of her cheek.

So, after a long no-nonsense look from her Captain, Riven sighed.

"I guess I don't feel ready to deal with him yet." She looked up at the dark, smoggy sky, before sighing and saying, "Truth be told, I doubt I'll ever feel ready, though, so I might as well deal with him now, you know?"

"You're not ready to face Singed?"

Riven shook her head, "To be fair, I don't know how I feel about that one," She said as she scrunched up her nose, "The one I know I'm not ready to face yet is Cyrus." She sighed, "There's a lot that the simple fact of knowing we're eventually going to deal with him makes me think of."

Irelia raised a brow at that. "What do you think of?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, Irelia." Riven said, an apologetic look on her face, "I'm sorry."

And of course she didn't want to talk about it.

After all, Cyrus reminded her of herself. A more Noxian version of herself.

It was hard, she decided, to deal with your enemies when all of your them look just like you.

Irelia's gaze softened a bit, "I see," She simply said, before looking ahead and nodding her head.

A few seconds passed before Riven felt the need to talk again, if only to change the topic, "What a weird kid, this Ekko boy, no?"

Irelia snapped out of it, nodding her head vigorously. "He's completely insane, if you ask me. I mean," She took the stopwatch the boy had given her from her pocket and inspected it. "What on all of Valoran did he mean by _use it when you feel like…"_

She heard Irelia inhale sharply, almost like a gasp and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Ionian stop.

She turned to look at her.

The woman's eyes were unfocused, her gaze hazy and lost, finally focusing hard on Riven's confused expression, before going down to her hand as she looked at the stopwatch she still held onto.

Riven frowned at her expression, before moving one step closer and looking at the stopwatch, finding out its' face was completely broken; the glass was shattered in so many fractions that it was almost impossible to see the hands, but she managed to see them; they were both perfectly set on the number sixty, as if on reset.

"I have no clue what he meant by _use it when you feel like stopping," _She completed Irelia's phrase for her, "But I hadn't noticed he gave you a _broken _stopwatch," She mused out loud, "It probably doesn't work, anyway." She looked at Irelia's eyes once more and shrugged. "How on Runeterra would you use it?"

But Irelia was still staring at her with a furrowed brow, which made Riven raise a brow, "Is everything—"

She didn't finish her question, for Irelia had slapped her hard across the face before she could, making her head ricochet off her palm.

It froze Riven, before firing her up, an angry, shocked scowl on her face as she looked at the Ionian again, "What the _Hell _was that for!?"

And then she noticed the tears on Irelia's eyes.

It alerted her, "Irelia," She started, not so fired up anymore, "What's going on?"

She grabbed her by the collar and pulled her close to her face, baring teeth and glaring as she snarled, "You and I, we're a _team, _Riven! You said so _yourself, _or have you forgotten about that?" She asked, before growling again, "You can't just rush into the killzone and leave me behind! Are you fucking _stupid!?" _She shook Riven a bit, pushing her away and pulling her in as she said, "Don't you see your actions have consequences for the _both _of us, _now!? _Don't you see that where you go I _follow, _like a _damned dog!?"_

And she was screaming when she added,

"_Don't you see I care about you!?"_

Silence seemed to sound louder, all of a sudden.

Riven didn't understand where Irelia's sudden anger came from, but what did it matter?

_Don't you see she cares about you?_

Sometimes, understanding was overrated, Riven believed.

That was one of those times.

So she settled for saying, "I'm sorry."

She didn't know what she was sorry for, but she was certain she was.

"I'm sorry," She repeated.

And she really meant it.

Despite the ragged breathing, the angry expression, the teary eyes, Irelia believed her and slowly calmed down.

A beat.

A change of expression, anger replaced by determination.

Irelia turned her comm on, watching as Riven did the same, as they both heard them all complain about their vanishing.

"_Finally you two decide to appear!" _They heard Vi's voice on the other side of the comm, "_Stop being idiots and come closer, Mundo is already here!"_

Riven was about to curse, but Irelia's angry glare, the lack of surprise in her eyes, it all made her catch her own tongue.

"Your instructions were unclear," She said, without taking her eyes off Riven, "It wasn't going to _stop _the ticking from moving forwards," She said, adding the end of her sentence as a way of explaining herself, yet making Ekko the only one able to understand her, "It was going to make it tick backwards."

She heard Ekko chuckle, despite the situation he was in, "_People usually use it earlier than what's ideal when I explain its' real use_."

"Thank you for lying to me, then." Irelia said, turning off both her comm and Riven's and saying, "I've got a plan."

Riven was frowning, "Irelia, what—"

"Do you want to die?"

That took her by surprise. "What?"

But Irelia's expression was serious as she asked her again, "Do you want to die?"

Riven stared at her, raising her brows a bit as she said, "No,"

And truth be told, her answer meant more than Irelia could possibly fathom, she realised.

Because there was a time when she _did _want to die.

Then there was a time when she didn't mind being alive, but wouldn't have minded death either.

It was just then that she realised she was currently facing a time when she really, absolutely, wanted to remain alive.

_How the tables turn._

Irelia nodded once, acknowledging her answer. "Singed is going to appear where Mundo is," She said, watching as Riven's frown of confusion became one of alert at her words, "But once he sees us, he will take us back to his laboratory, where Cyrus will be waiting to kill us both," She grabbed Riven by the shoulders, "It's a _trap, _Riven. If we fall for it, we're both dead."

_And you die first._

But she decided it was better _not _to tell her that bit.

_Gods, the way the arrow pierced her neck—_

"If you really mean that _no _of yours," Irelia continued, "Then you will obey me from now on, without asking me any questions, without questioning any of my decisions. _You will obey me, _is that clear?"

But Riven was too confused to follow along, "What do you know that I don't?"

Irelia shook her head, "If I were to explain myself right now, you would absolutely not believe me. _I _find it hard to believe myself," She looked at Riven with seriousness in her eyes, "What's important is that you obey me, Riven. Do you understand?"

"I do, I do," Riven said, nodding her head.

But Irelia grabbed her head with both of her hands, "I need you to _swear _you'll obey my _every word, _Riven," She repeated, "If not, we're _dead."_

"I will obey you, Irelia," Riven said, somewhat disturbed by Irelia's eerie behavior. "Now, can you—"

"I said I wouldn't explain and I ordered you not to ask questions," Irelia said, suddenly colder, the Captain of the Ionian Guard taking over. She looked around for a bit and managed to locate the dead end where Singed would catch them, "There, do you see it?" She asked, pointing at the distant location.

Riven narrowed her eyes, "The small alleyway?" She asked, watching Irelia nod her head, "What about it?"

"That alley's end is a warehouse's door, the entry to Singed's lab," She told her, "I want you to go there and try to find a way in, without causing a fuss."

Riven looked at her, "And what about you?"

"I'll appear where Mundo is and follow Singed back to his lab."

"And how are you so certain he _will _go there?" Riven asked, fearing that Irelia was going on a hunch, not caring for considering a margin of error.

Irelia sighed, "Riven, if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. All you can do now is _trust me." _She said, "I promise I'll explain later."

Riven doubted for half a second, but nodded her head nonetheless, because sometimes understanding was overrated. "Okay."

Irelia nodded back, "Good. Now, go. Turn your comm on and keep me informed."

"Got it."

And, after seeing Riven start sprinting in the direction she had pointed out for her, Irelia ran towards the problems Mundo was causing.

"Don't forget," She grunted on the communicator as she turned it on, "You obey _me, _Riven."

"_I got you the first time, _Captain Irelia." She heard the reply.

But she had to make sure.

"_Leave your foreplay for later—"_

She heard a click and then, "_I guess it didn't go well?" _Irelia heard Ekko's voice over Vi's. "_Hacked her comm to turn it off for a bit, so don't worry about being subtle, now."_

"_How did you—"_

"No, it didn't," Irelia said, cutting Vi off, "But I think I know how to make it right."

"_What the Hell—"_

"_I'm guessing now you know about Ekko's fixation with time?" _Caitlyn talked over Vi, making Irelia ignore her successfully once more.

"I do," Irelia replied as she got on her blades so as to go faster, "But let's leave that topic for later," She then remembered something, "Vi, give me my crestblades."

"_But you already have the new ones," _She heard Vi say, "_If you use both, maybe the neuronal connections will—"_

"My blades don't act on neuronal connections. I bet I can make them both obey without confusing commands for one set of blades or the other," Irelia quickly replied, knowing Vi's complaint came from a place of concern, fearing that having both set of blades flying around at the same time could make it impossible for Irelia to bend them to her will without the other set replicating the command and thus making it hard for her to maneuver around them. "Still, trust me. That won't be a problem yet."

_Yet._

So, as she arrived on the roof where she would have been standing with Riven before the former Noxian jumped to her untimely death, she saw Vi release her old blades into the air, letting them fall from her gauntlets.

Irelia quickly focused on them, making them soar towards her, her hextech blades moving away from under her feet and flying towards her old ones as she commanded them all as if they were the same set of blades.

She caught her old ones and strapped them to her back, underneath her cape, where her hextech ones had been before she released them, in order to prevent herself from using them before it was due.

Then she watched, waiting for Singed to appear.

"_What's the plan?" _Vi asked her, "_Now that you know what happens."_

"Singed will appear anytime soon. I'll follow him back to his laboratory, where Cyrus will be waiting. Riven is already headed there."

"_And what about Mundo?"_

"Mundo will keep fighting Ekko _and _Singed's followers, so you both are needed here to help him out."

"_How did it go last time?" _Caitlyn asked.

And _of course _it was Caitlyn who asked.

Always keen on detail, always searching for what she needed to know.

"Last time, it was Riven who followed Singed. It forced me to tag along." She eyed the roof where the Piltovian was crouching, the Zaunite behind her, "We both inhaled too much of his poisonous gas and that already sentenced us both to death. Still, when we reached his laboratory, Cyrus killed Riven by shooting her on throat."

She could tell Caitlyn was grimacing a bit, "_Not a lovely sight to behold, is it?"_

"Definitely not."

And before anything else could be said, Singed appeared on stage.

Irelia's eyes landed on him. It was good that Riven wasn't there to see him. Something about him, about that gas of his, about frustration and memory and a past that has yet to be put behind them seemed to have had resonated deep within the former Noxian, spurring that madness of hers back to life one more time.

_Not long until it's really gone, she had said._

A part of it would be gone soon, but it made Irelia realize that the other part of it would always be there, would always remain with Riven.

The part that she could control, the part that she would call upon whenever she was in a time of need.

A need of power.

The part of her that, no matter how hard anyone tried, would always remain true to her Noxian heritage.

The part that craved speed, that pursuited strength, that adored power, that loved domination.

It wasn't a bad thing; it was good.

It was just different to what she had once imagined.

_Not much I can do about it._

She had told Riven she had to accept it one day.

Maybe she should do the same.

Considering it was time, Irelia allowed herself to fall from the roof she was on to the ground where the battle was happening, her blades moving underneath her as she fell, smoothing out her fall to a slow stop right before she touched the ground.

Singed's eyes locked on her.

Irelia willed her blades to chase him.

He turned and ran away.

"_Let us know if you need aid," _She heard Caitlyn tell her over the comm, "_We'll be helping Ekko in the meantime, which reminds me… Ekko, Riven's communicator."_

"Got it," Irelia said as the only response to her, following Singed throughout the streets. Hearing that small click once more, she tried to reach out to the former Noxian, "Riven," She talked again, this time to her companion, "I'm chasing Singed towards the warehouse. Where are you?"

"_I'm already here," _Riven told her in a quieter voice, "_I'm trying to find an entry to the warehouse."_

"Good," Irelia said, going as fast as she could, unable to reach Singed. "He's very fast for some reason, so we will be there in no time."

"_Years of abusing his own toxic brewings have turned him into something beyond human," _They heard Ekko's voice, the battle unfolding in the background, "_Careful with him."_

"That's something I didn't know," Irelia said, watching as Singed unlocked the amphora he carried on his back.

She willed her blades to move her higher in the air, avoiding the toxic, purple cloud, letting only one of them continue its' trip on the lower level, moving through the poisonous gas, so as to give Singed something to see whenever he tried to look at her, if only to keep him from looking up at where she actually was.

_Hopefully he'll fall for it._

And she knew he had fallen for it the moment she saw him look back, then ahead once more.

"We're almost there," She told Riven.

"_I found a window," _The white haired warrior said over the comm, "_I'll try to open it without causing much of a fuss."_

Irelia slowed down, knowing they were just a few meters away from their destination. "Cyrus will be waiting inside, so try to be ready." She remembered the way he had shot Riven down, so easily, so swiftly, "Is there something you should tell me about the way he fights?"

Because having such good aim in such a dire situation was quite uncanny, to say the least.

A beat.

Then,

"_He has four runes like my broadsword's tattooed on his skin."_

Irelia almost fell from her blades, but she managed to find her balance. "On his skin."

"_Yeah," _Riven breathed out, quietly, "_Got them around the time I got my runic blade. He got inspired by it and asked to have them tattooed on his back."_

Irelia felt like slapping past-time Riven. "The same runes as your blade's?"

"_Well, we shared speed, but then he chose three others: accuracy, stealth and resistance."_

Speed, accuracy, stealth, resistance.

She wanted to beat the living Hell out of past-time Riven. "Great. We must be extremely careful about him, then."

"_If he gets a good view of us, we're dead."_

_Oh, you don't say._

"Got that."

And, as they arrived at the warehouse, Irelia allowed her blades to take her to the building's rooftop, before letting her blades join the one that served as a distraction for Singed, letting them all hit the warehouse's door as it closed between them and Singed.

She knew she couldn't enter through that door; it meant death.

The Ionian moved to the left of the building and found Riven as she was crouching on the adjacent building's rooftop, one that was lower than the warehouse's and allowed them to peek through one of the warehouse's windows.

"I didn't manage to open it without breaking it," Riven told her, "So I guessed my best bet was to wait for you."

"It was your best bet, indeed," Irelia said, calling one of her hextech blades towards her. "Just like your new sword, mine also happen to have a few funny tricks."

Riven watched as Irelia slowly pressed the pinkish end of her blade against the glass and dragged it in the shape of a circle, managing to silently cut the window open.

The former Noxian caught the glass before it fell, placing it gently next to them and waiting for Irelia to command their next move.

Irelia nodded once and entered the building, Riven following closely behind.

The place was too dark for them to see, so the white haired warrior placed her hand on the Ionian's back, letting her know she was right there behind her.

Slowly, they sneaked around the laboratory's second level.

Irelia made a quick motion with her hand, willing her blades to keep on pushing against Singed's door.

Seconds passed.

She calculated that, by that time in her last attempt, they were both inside.

She saw the lights go on, Singed in the center of the laboratory.

Irelia quickly grabbed Riven's hand and squeezed it, making the woman look at her in the eye.

_You obey me, _she mouthed.

Riven nodded once, then looked at Singed again.

They saw him open the laboratory's door, only to find Irelia's blades, floating idly in the air.

She got ready to command them to—

They fell to the ground as she did the same, having Riven pushed her aside, bringing her blade up and using it as a shield, letting it protect them from an arrow that had been aimed straight at Irelia's head.

"I'll deal with Cyrus, go face Singed," Riven told her, her sword still working as a barrier.

She watched as Irelia jumped on her blades and floated towards the Zaunite, before looking ahead at Cyrus again.

He didn't look surprised, exactly, but he didn't look like he had been expecting her, either.

An despite the pain that his face brought to her, the fact that he looked just like he had looked, so many years ago, only a bit deteriorated due to living in a city like Zaun, Riven grinned, "Missed me?"

"I knew you were alive," He says, not lowering his bow, "Didn't expect you to ally with the _Ionian."_

"Life takes curious turns," Riven replied, not lowering her blade either, knowing he was just waiting for the best moment to put an arrow between her eyebrows.

Still, she knew she couldn't let him be for too long, for he'd take aim on Irelia and that was even _worse _than the alternative.

So Riven steeled herself and charged towards him.

She felt one, two, three _explosive _arrows hit her blade, her armor protecting her from the damage but not from its' shockwave, which made her slow down and, considering she was close enough to make shooting at her difficult, she lowered her blade.

She was face to face with him.

She tried to punch him with her free hand, but Cyrus dodged easily, sweeping her feet with his own as he ducked.

She rolled backwards as she fell, quickly turning to a side, covering her face with her arm—

A normal arrow hit her on the arm, but her armor was strong enough to deflect it.

"Where's your sword, _Captain?" _Cyrus asked her.

"I guessed black and green were not my colors anymore," Riven said, quickly getting up eyes on him, too aware of the hextech engine on her armor, on her blade, too aware of the fact that he had seen them, too. "Decided to go for something a bit more _modern, _too."

He huffed a laugh, "You're _nothing _without your runic power."

She got ready, "Maybe you'll find out I'm better off without it."

Cyrus quickly shot at her time and time again as Riven sped towards him, her blade covering her head.

She reached him once more and swung her blade at him, only to have him dodge her again, hitting her right arm with his bow, making her drop her blade.

Weaponless, Riven stood her ground and fought him from up close, knowing it was the only way to keep him from shooting.

In the lower level, Irelia circled Singed, knowing she had to be careful.

"Captain Lito," He said as he finally got a good look at her, "I almost didn't recognize you with that getup."

Irelia wasn't in the mood for talking.

Her blades rained on him in a flurry, but he shielded himself behind the bulwark he had strapped to his arm, successfully stopping her attempt.

And they got stuck there.

He looked at her.

"Shit."

He ran towards her.

Irelia ran towards him and jumped before colliding, pushing herself higher by stepping on his bulwark.

In the air, she willed the blades to come back to her, succeeding this time.

As they reached her, she quickly sent them all back to Singed, hoping to attack him once more.

She landed on the ground with yet another unsuccessful attack and Singed stampeding to her again.

This time, he reached her before she could react.

He punched her in the face, before hitting her on the stomach with his bulwark's edge, leaving her breathless.

He used the moment to spray the ground with an adhesive of sorts. Then, he threw her blades there and pushed her face first to it, watching as she fell and got stuck.

Irelia struggled against the adhesive, finding she couldn't escape it quickly enough.

Singed stood over her and brought his bulwark up, ready to embed it into her skull.

Time was running out and there was no stopwatch to save her now.

She focused—

Singed let out a painful scream as one of Irelia's crestblades flew from underneath her cape and stabbed him on the stomach, going through him in one clean, swift motion.

Irelia took the moment to fight harder against the adhesive, slowly getting up.

Her eyes fell on the second level of the laboratory, where she saw Riven and Cyrus fight barehanded.

She heard Singed behind her—

To her right, she saw the chained body she had seen the last time _move _and _grunt._

_Wasn't he dead?_

She felt Singed move—

She turned right in time to see him try to attack her, her hands already moving out of instinct as she allowed a second crestblade to join the one she had released, both of them cutting Singed's legs as one of them sliced over his thighs, the other one slicing open the popliteus muscle on the back of his knees.

He fell to the ground with a painful scream.

As blood started to pool around him, the adhesive mixing up with it, Irelia managed to break free, all while hearing the chained corpse struggle against the chains, mumbling out a string of incomprehensible, slurred words.

_Guess he wasn't dead, then._

She got up and moved away from Singed, quickly rising her hextech blades in the air.

But then Irelia saw Singed pull out a small bottle from one of his pockets.

There was a green liquid inside.

Before she could think anything about it, she saw him pull the bandages that covered his face down, opening the bottle with his other hand and gulping down the toxic-looking liquid.

She stared in horror as he suddenly got up as if nothing had ever happened to him, wounds still open, blood still coming out of them, but no pain to be felt by the chemist, apparently.

The _man _in chains roared loudly.

Singed moved towards Irelia and punched her on the jaw.

As she staggered backwards, her head turning to the side, she got a good look at the chained man.

He wasn't a man.

It was a _creature._

And it looked feral.

Singed punched her once more and she felt the nauseous crunch of her nose as he broke it.

She fell to the ground and he laughed.

"I guess my first attempt at replicating Dr. Mundo's abilities was a great success," He said, his voice shaky with madness, yet his mind clear with focus. "Brilliant."

Irelia got up, the taste of her own blood as it ran down her face invading her mouth.

The creature in chains just grew more and more restless.

Irelia finally managed to understand the word he was mumbling over and over again.

_Blood._

She tried to bring her hextech blades against Singed—

The chemist attacked her again and again and again, cornering her against a wall as he punched her time after time, laughing at the way he could feel her flesh against his skin, her bones crunching under his knuckles.

Irelia couldn't defend herself, couldn't stop him, couldn't even ask Riven for help.

Couldn't stop hearing the wailing of that creature.

But she could try.

So she tried.

She focused on her breathing, focused on the hextech blades that were still floating in the air, even if shakily so.

She moved them to the roaring creature's chains.

Singed kept hitting her.

She felt herself fading for a bit, but she did not let go of her resolve.

She crashed her blades against the chains with all of her mind's might.

She heard sounds, heard wailing, heard metal hitting surfaces, heard metal being destroyed, heard her own face being destroyed by Singed's enhanced fists.

Then Singed delivered a hook to her face that left her on the ground.

She looked at the chains.

Her hextech blades were on the ground, destroyed by the constant hitting.

She didn't see the creature anymore.

Her eyes moved to Singed.

He was looking at the same thing.

Then his eyes moved a bit to the right—

Irelia heard deep, low growling.

Her eyes landed on a crouched figure.

Singed looked at Irelia.

"What have you done?"

And before Irelia could think, the creature lunged for Singed and caught him by the throat.

She looked at the wolf-like monster as it charged through the warehouse's door and ran away, a soon-to-be corpse hanging from its' maw.

And Singed was no more.

Hearing the sound of battle, she turned around to see Riven land a hook on Cyrus' temple, the man falling from the second floor to the one she was on.

He got up like nothing had happened to him and, upon seeing Irelia still on the ground, as he felt Riven move, trying her best to prevent what she knew he'd try, he quickly aimed his bow at the Ionian, an arrow already locked on the string as it tightened when he pulled from it.

"Move and she dies."

Riven froze.

Irelia didn't move, either.

"Kneel and put your hands on the rail." He growled

Riven obeyed.

And, after a moment, Cyrus laughed.

It wasn't a pretty sound.

"The mighty Hand of Noxus, on her knees." He smiled, "How many people would _kill _to see such a view?"

Riven didn't reply. She didn't look at him, either.

Irelia noticed her eyes went from his hands to her, over and over again.

She was thinking and, while she was at it, she was surveilling him.

Measuring how long until his fingers itched to release the arrow.

Because Riven knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't let them both leave unharmed.

_No. He'll kill Irelia if I don't do something to stop him._

The whole _She'll die only if you move _was a façade, one Riven could see through, one Riven realized had her running against the clock as she tried to think of a way of distracting him before he actually did kill Irelia.

"Cat got your tongue, _Captain?"_

"Nobody would actually care to see me like this, Cyrus," Riven replied, entertaining him. "Everyone believes I'm dead. I'm old news." She shrugged, "I'm not even news."

"And yet here you are," He said, his eyes on her, but Riven knew his whole focus was on his hands, on that arrow. "And yet here you are, alive, with this _Ionian bitch _by your side."

But Riven would not react to his words, her head cool, her voice calm. "And yet here I am."

He didn't like the fact that she wasn't losing it, but he smiled anyway, believing he'd manage to make her go mad at him at some point. "Tell me, Captain. Did you get what you came looking for?"

Riven shook her head. "No, not really. This trip was all almost in vain." She raised her brows, "We did kill Singed though."

She did _not _mean that comment to sting. She really did not mean it.

But she knew it had stung when Cyrus' bow got a bit more tense.

_A few seconds lost._

Because he knew that if Singed died and Riven didn't get what she wanted, then she had clearly gone there for him.

"How long have you fantasized about killing me, Riven?" He asked, gritting his teeth, finally saying her name, the sound of it being strange and wrong on his voice as it left his mouth. "How long have you dreamt of my blood?"

It felt so strange, so insulting, even, to hear him suggest such a thing about her: that she'd fantasize about someone's death, let alone his.

That she'd want to see him bleed until death embraced him.

But she knew that such an accusation didn't come from out of nowhere: Cyrus didn't know the Riven which kneeled for him wasn't the same as the Riven which commanded him.

The one he betrayed.

They were very different. He simply wasn't aware of it.

So no offense was taken when she finally replied, calmly.

"I don't want to kill you." She said, honestly. "I just want to know why you did it."

And that was the truth.

She no longer wished for punishment to come his way.

She no longer wished for harm, either.

She just wished to learn the motives behind such a treason, why someone she trusted so much would do such a thing. Once she knew, her mind would be at peace, she'd be able to go home.

After all, the kind of crime he committed was beyond redemption: to kill your brothers and sisters in premeditated friendly fire.

To lie to your friends, with the sole purpose of harming them.

She couldn't forgive him, but she could forgive herself for it all and move on, only after knowing the _why._

"Why I did it." He repeated, low, though Riven heard him.

"Yes," She said, "Why did you betray us?"

"_Betray you?" _He asked, incredulous, before letting out the bark of a laugh. "I didn't betray anyone!" He roared, "_You _were betraying _Noxus!"_

She couldn't believe his words, "What?"

"The Ionian campaign was futile! Darkwill was _mad _and you were an idiot for ever following him!" He growled, "We were never going to win, not as long as the _Ionian Captain," _He emphasized his words by kicking Irelia, "And the _Noxian Hand _were alive! So I did what I had to."

The missing puzzle piece appeared inside Riven's head. "You were following Swain's orders."

"_Of course I was!" _He replied, "The only Noxian with enough wits to know it was all in vain, staining the Noxian name, ruining the Noxian pride! I _killed _the Crimson Elite and the Ionian Guard in the name of Noxus and I would _gladly _do it again, if only to see my Empire rise."

Cyrus and Darius had one thing in common, Riven realized.

They're allegiances didn't lie where everyone thought they would.

Darius' should have laid with Noxus. They laid with her, instead.

Cyrus' should have laid with her. They laid with Noxus, instead.

And they both disobeyed orders from their _superiors, _betraying them, for the sake of protecting the one leader they actually followed.

"That's why Swain protected your identity, your status, your location," Riven reasoned out loud, "Because he owed you as much," She shook her head, "All that protection was in exchange for ruining your reputation, taking your honor, staining your name, shaming you by calling you a traitor and giving you for dead."

It all suddenly made sense, as the puzzle was finally completed.

"_Shut up!" _He roared, his arms tense.

Riven realized then that Cyrus hadn't changed a bit.

Maybe there was a part of him that she didn't know of, but the fact that he was hot headed remained.

And when he got angry…

He got distracted easily.

_That's the way I'll save her._

"You want me to shut up because you can't face the truth, no?" Riven asked, him, suddenly standing up. "The fact that you're a _traitor." _She sneered, baring her teeth.

"_Shut up!"_

"Not only are you a traitor, you're a bad one at that." She chuckled, "Your mission was simple; to kill Irelia and to kill me." Her eyes landed on the Ionian. "Look at us, now."

Cyrus shut his eyes in his fury, "_Silence!"_

"Not only did we survive, we _allied." _She smiled, "Noxus stands no chance."

Cyrus didn't speak, he only growled, his voice lower, darker, more guttural.

Irelia's eyes moved to his.

They were green like Riven's during her worst moments.

Irelia watched, confused, her eyes following, then, Riven's lips as she mouthed something at her.

"And let me tell you something," Riven continued, "The Crimson Elite never got disbanded, for its' leader still stands." She squared her shoulders, "So, Cyrus, as of today, you are banned from the squadron." She raised a brow, "Guess you weren't worthy of it."

And she didn't expect that to sting as much as it apparently did, but she could see he only needed one more push.

So she pushed him.

"You were, are and will always be considered a disgrace, an _insult _to your former brothers and sisters." She narrowed her eyes as she allowed the venom to poison her voice, "You will always be a mistake in my eyes."

Cyrus roared as he quickly changed arrows and moved his aim from Irelia's head to Riven's.

Irelia realized then that Riven had mouthed _I love you._

And then it all happened in slow motion for her.

As he was about to release the arrow, Irelia took one of her crestblades from the spot they were in under her cape and, gripping it with all of her might, not caring as it dug into her skin, she used it to slash at Cyrus' left hand, the one which kept the bow in position.

The arrow got released, Cyrus' aim slightly off as Irelia cut his left hand off.

It hit Riven on the chest and exploded.

Irelia couldn't do more than watch as Riven fell from the second floor to hers, a scream escaping her throat.

When the cloud of smoke was gone, she saw Riven on the ground, still alive, but the left half of her face was marred, being nothing but torn flesh and scorched skin, the hair gone in a cloud of smoke, her eye closed as her eyelid melted into her cheek.

She was screaming.

Irelia left Cyrus and ran towards her, quickly laying her on her back and straddling her so as not to let her move.

"_Riven!" _She screamed, holding her hands down as the woman thrashed around. "_Riven!"_

Her eyes were green and there were tears falling.

Irelia realized then that there were tears in her own eyes, too.

With Riven still screaming, Irelia slowly moved closer, gently pressing her head against Riven's good side. "Riven," She mumbled against her ear, "I'm here."

For she couldn't heal her, only keep her company while she fought against the pain, hoping that what remained of her runic power was enough to help her quickly kill the suffering.

And a minute passed. Then another.

And the wailing slowly calmed down.

Irelia knew Riven's remaining magic was dying out in a final effort at saving her.

She was thankful, then, for the runes that proved to be a blessing and a curse.

She only feared she'd lose her lover to them, once more.

And then Irelia learned something she never expected to learn.

She learned it's impossible to rewind time and completely erase events that should have happened, for the mind, the body seems to remember an alternate life that it should have lived.

She learned as much when she heard Riven quiet down, before slowly, quietly, mumbling out a mantra she had no possible way of learning in the timeline she currently was in; "_I'm bigger than you."_

"_I'm bigger than you, I'm bigger than you, I'm bigger than you," _She said over and over again, weakly, if only because the softness of voluntary weakness would help her calm down.

Irelia pulled away and looked at her.

Riven's eye went back to normal as she locked it on Irelia, tears still welling in it as she said, "I'm bigger than you."

Irelia nodded, a smile on her face, "That you are."

"It hurts like a bitch."

Irelia was crying, but the smile remained, "I can only imagine."

They heard male screams and Riven turned her head to the side to find Cyrus, craddling his left wrist, his eyes wide and green.

Riven's eye widened in surprise.

It occurred to Irelia that this was the first time Riven saw what would usually happen to her due to the runes from an outer perspective.

The Ionian got up, offering her hand to the former Noxian, which she quickly took.

Once on their feet, they walked towards Cyrus as he laid on the ground, face down, his remaining hand under his body.

They got close—

He tried to get up and quickly stab Irelia with an arrow—

Riven caught his hand and, placing her other one on his forearm, she snapped his wrist, hearing the sickening crunch of his bones, the desperate screaming.

"No more bow nor arrow for you," She said. "Traitor."

Irelia then looked at her, "What do you want to do with him?"

Riven hadn't expected such a question. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to kill him?" Irelia asked, the question devoid of judgement. "Because you could do it." She added, "Kill him, avenge your friends, put this whole thing down."

Riven froze, unfroze, then thought of it.

A beat.

"No."

She said, honestly.

Eyes hardened, "It would be worth nothing." She looked at him, "Killing him would not avenge anyone, it wouldn't put anything down." She shook her head. "It would leave me feeling empty handed and like I didn't learn anything in these past few years. Like I'm still the same, like I haven't changed, like we did all of this in vain and neither you nor I deserve that." Riven looked at Irelia. "I want him alive."

A thought occurred.

"I want him to be judged in Ionia for his crimes."

Irelia eyed Riven carefully.

Judging Cyrus meant…

It wasn't easy.

"Are you sure you want that?" Irelia asked her, "Because it implies—"

"I do," Riven said, looking at her, then at Cyrus, ignoring as Vi, Ekko and Caitlyn entered the place, all of them listening. "I want him to have a proper trial, judged by Ionian laws as well as Noxian ones."

Irelia nodded her head, also ignoring the policewomen as they approached them. "I guess we could do that. Very well," She looked at Cyrus. "Cyrus, you're arrested under Ionian and Noxian law for your crimes against both nations." She raised a brow, "You won't be cuffed due to the lack of hands."

But then she took the handcuffs from Vi's waist without even warning her about it and approached Riven.

"Riven," She begun, unexpectedly cuffing the woman's wrists, ignoring the surprised look on the former Noxian's marred face, "You're arrested under Ionian law for your crimes against the nation."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Surprise gays! Didn't forget about y'all! I just got distracted...


	33. Justice Must Be Served First

HELLO! How are you all doing? I hope you're all home, safe and sound, quarantined as we all should be in these dire times. I know I am! And in this day 6 of quarantine (in my case, at least), I bring you the longest chapter I've ever written, with exactly 18316 words of suffering for me, entertainment for you! Kidding. I loved writing it. But now, for real, what's up next is the END of Beyond Redemption. I will write a small epilogue, I promise, but this is the final chapter of Riven's story (and Irelia's, but she ain't the protagonist lmfao). Anyway, I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for the epilogue!

Stay safe!

* * *

Silence.

Her office was in complete.

silence.

A deafening one.

It hadn't been that quiet in her office ever since befriending her.

Befriending.

She felt the term was too light just as much as it was too strange, too much.

Because when did it happen, exactly?

When did Irelia befriend Riven?

She sat down on her sofa, near the fire. Hers, not the other one, which usually belonged to the former Noxian, during those nights where she'd wander into the room and share the silence.

But even then, the silence was different. Sometimes, it wasn't even there.

She relaxed onto the cushions.

When did it happen?

The crackling flames didn't hold the answers to her questions.

But she did believe that, if she stared for long enough, maybe something would come to her mind, not an answer but a hint, a direction.

A beginning.

A few seconds ticked by as she sighed, letting the back of her head hit the sofa as she looked up at the ceiling.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in."

"Everyone's ready for the trial, Captain," Sao replied from the threshold as she opened the door.

Irelia stood up, looking at the blonde, "The Targonians?"

"They've arrived. They're currently seated by the Emperor's Throne." Sao frowned, then, "They didn't come alone."

Irelia narrowed her eyes, "Explain?"

"They came with two sacred guards, as expected, but they all want to attend the trial."

Irelia was rather confused. "If they only came with two guards, then—"

"No, Irelia," Sao interrupted. "Two guards, as in, two groups of soldiers." A beat. Then, "And a blind priestess."

Irelia raised a brow, then shook her head, so as to snap out of the mental image. "Whatever. Let them all attend, have them standing behind the throne if there's no more room." She thought of it and, out of a hunch, she said, "Get the priestess a chair along with the Aspects, if they don't mind her presence alongside them."

Sao raised a brow as she thought of it. "The priestess deals with the Aspects in a way that has me thinking she's the one who's actually in charge, you know?"

She did not have the time nor the will, at the moment, to think of that. "Then sit her next to the Aspects with no questions asked."

Sao nodded her head, "Right away," And left the room.

So Irelia fixed her attire, her usual armor, and got out of the office.

Time not to have her questions replied, but her people's.

* * *

The Placidium's courtroom was, in contrast to her office, as noisy as a room can be.

With good reason, though.

The courtroom, which was already humongous, was rather overpopulated. On the far end of the room, just a meter away from the wall opposite to the entrance to the room, a throne was positioned, with one chair right next to it, three chairs to its' left and the jury box to the right. Opposed to it, two small podiums. Behind them, the spectators' seating, which surrounded all of the room in a semi-circle, being the part behind the throne the only one it did not occupy.

All of it was crowded; there were people sharing spots in the spectators' seats, the jury was all already positioned, three figures occupied the chairs on the other side of the throne, one of the only two chairs that still remained empty as the one right next to it was also unoccupied and, behind them, stood countless soldiers on golden armors and red robes.

When Sao opened the doors to the courtroom, absolutely everyone stood in attention.

The sound of armored boots as they all took one precise step at the same calculated time almost made Irelia flinch.

Almost.

But she was made of steel. At least, for the duration of the trials.

So, squaring her shoulders back and with her head held high, she marched towards the Emperor's Throne, walking past her friend, ignoring the hushed whispers around her, the confusion that reigned over her people.

The furious and fearful glare from the overprotective Chosen of the Moon and the presence of her lover and that ominous priestess that served as a companion.

The eyes that were all laid on her, burning holes into her back, the breaths that she felt as if they were right behind her, on her neck.

She reached the Throne and turned around, looking at them all before addressing them.

"It is well known by everyone in the First Lands that, up until today, Ionia lacks a leader. We haven't gotten into the matter of finding the right one as of yet so, for the sake of being able to carry out today's matters with ease, I'll be serving as the maximum authority in this courtroom for the time being, with Captain Sao Sato serving as the second in command, the role I'd be bound to take if things worked the way they should."

But nothing ever works the way it should , Irelia thought. Nothing works the way it should and it shows in the consequences to our actions.

Not anymore, though.

Today, we right the wrongs I've turned a blind eye on.

"I hope I prove myself to be up to par with the task and if I may, my fellow countrymen, let me remind you that everyone in this courtroom is human and it is due to our condition as humans that it is safe to say we're all constantly learning; whether it is from lack of experience or past mistakes, we're all on our eternal journey to wisdom, taking wrong steps and then fixing them, so please, be kind to one another and do point out injustice or a clouded judgement if you believe you witness it here today, for this whole circus would be in vain if we did not speak up for ourselves and for others and if we let wrongdoings take place without pointing them out." She smiled, "Through collective collaboration, we may all learn something here, today. I humbly invite you to be the judges of our work as the powers of this country and specially my work as the judge, for I'm open to critics and embrace the fact that I, as well, am only human and therefore I am, as well, only learning."

She eyed the everyone in the room, watching them as they all stared back at her intensely, no sounds escaping their lips, no words being mouthed.

Not a whisper being heard. Not even a fly.

"You may all sit." She commanded.

But she wasn't done speaking, so she did not sit.

"I want to begin by apologizing to all of you for calling you here in such short notice with absolutely no explanation whatsoever of the nature of this meeting." She started, expression neutral, eyes calm, body language relaxed, yet firm.

The reflection of a true born leader.

"A lot of things have happened to us, to the First Lands, ever since the first Noxian invasion, so many years ago." She walked around the room, around its' center, the only area free of people. "Ever since that first attempt, none of us have been the same," She stopped walking and placed a hand on her chest. " I haven't been the same." She shook her head and continued pacing, "It forced me to grow up rather fast, if only to become the Captain of the Guard that all of you know I am, nowadays." She closed her eyes as she moved, slowly. "Then the second invasion came and, with it, something in Ionia shattered." She looked up at them all once more as she moved, "Something was different; some whispered of fighting back, others of seeking peace, but one thing remained true; it split us all in two."

She stopped pacing in the middle of the room, hands behind her back.

"It shattered me in a million pieces."

She confessed her truth.

"Terrible things happened during the first invasion, things which I'll never forget, things which made me who I am today," She said, nodding her head, before looking down. "But even then, I wasn't prepared for the horrors of the second bellic attempt from Noxus."

She looked up at the people who were sat in the first row.

"I wasn't prepared to see them die in such ways," She told them, her eyes a bit glassy as she reminisced awful memories. "I wasn't prepared to feel so helpless, so unhelpful."

She stared at them, those in the first row, as they freely allowed the tears to fall from their faces.

"That night I failed you," She told them, "That night I failed your children, your siblings, your parents. I failed my Captain's Guard, my friends and, through that, I failed you and I'll never be able to tell you just how much sorrow it's left me with." Her eyes hardened despite the softness of her unshed tears, "I'll never be able to properly communicate the hatred, the fury, the sadness that night has left imprinted on my heart, like a scar that will never heal, like a tattoo that will never fade. For such a mistake, I'm sorry. I'll always be sorry."

She breathed in and out deeply, before wiping those tears away with her thumb, trying not to lose her resolve at the sight of the families of those lost in battle that night.

"But being sorry is not enough."

They stared at her with curiosity in their sad eyes.

"The balance had been tipped that night and it had never been restored to its perfect equilibrium." She raised a brow, "Maybe that's what makes us all see the picture differently, nowadays, as if we've moved one step to the side: the same, yet different: off frame."

She cleared her throat.

"Today, I called pretty much all of Ionia to this courtroom. Clearly, not all of Ionia is here, but there should be, at least, one representative of each family, the families in the front row being the only exception to such rule." She looked at them again, "For those of you unaware, they are the families of my original Captain's Guard, the one that fell that night, protecting the First Lands, putting their lives on the line for the sake of us all. In their specific cases, I thought it would only be right to have all of the family present, for all of the integrants of their households had been robbed of one of their own."

She turned her head around, "And behind me, behind the Throne, right next to it, too," She started, "I've invited the Chosen of the Moon and the Chosen of the Sun, who've brought the people they've considered important to them." She looked ahead again, "I might be powerful in Ionia, but one can only do so much to go against her deities' wishes." She said, as if trying to explain why were there so many Targonians in the room.

It earned her a few chuckles.

She looked back at the two Aspects.

It was strange, Irelia decided: seeing them both wearing something other than their Celestial Armors. Diana looked elegant, delicate, even, clad in a gorgeous silver robe that seemed to be made of silk, that seemed to glimmer as the light hit it from different angles, as if stealing the light for itself, for its' silvery shine. Leona, on the other hand, looked just as elegant, just as godlike, wearing the counterpart to Diana's robe; a golden one made of a rougher fabric, one that seemed to shine gold on its' own.

They really did look like the personifications of their respective Celestials.

Leona chuckled at her small joke.

Diana did not.

She had felt ballsy, last time she met them both. She had kicked them out of her country without thinking twice about it.

Time had changed all of them.

Who would have thought Irelia would suddenly feel nervous about her past decisions?

Whether it was the wisdom they had all acquired, the power that both Aspects had gained after so long or the common sense she had managed to recover, Irelia did not know, but one thing she was certain of.

She couldn't act foolish again or it would cost her a lot.

My life, maybe, if Diana's glare is any indication of the kind of retaliation she seems to be thinking of.

She had to be careful about those two.

Diana's eyes narrowed, a small, deadly reminder of who she's friends with.

She had to be careful about Riven, too.

I'll do what I feel is right. If Diana then wishes to murder me, then so be it.

She cleared her throat once more, looking ahead again, "I want you to know that they have not been invited in vain. They are as invested in the matters we will discuss here today as the rest of us are."

And after having said all of that, everyone stayed silent.

Irelia quickly realized they were waiting for her to start explaining.

Where should I start, though?

The beginning sounds like a very good idea.

She coughed one more time and squared her shoulders.

"Many years ago, Noxus attempted to conquer Ionia in what would be their first Invasion." Irelia started as she paced around the room once more. "This invasion was led by a man whose name we all must remember; Jericho Swain, the current Grand General of Noxus, the equivalent to the position of Emperor in our government."

She looked at Sao, at her current Captain's Guard as they stood around the room, vigilant. "Jericho Swain's invasion failed due to all of our joined efforts, but one event changed the course of destiny in a way we could have never imagined, for it could have never been foreseen; as he tried to execute my family while raiding my house, he shattered my family's emblem and, through some kind of spiritual connection I have yet to find an explanation for, those fragments of my family's crest became my weapon of choice as they moved to obey my will." She made a point by displaying her crestblades, calling upon them and making them swirl around the room for a second, before hiding on their respective straps on her back once more. "Using them to protect my loved ones, I cut off Swain's left arm and, with that, their first bellic attempt against Ionia was declared a failure. Noxian troops retreated and we were left to lick our wounds."

Now, the complicated part.

"I wish I could give you the exact description of what happened to him after that, but asking your enemies their secrets never goes exactly as one hopes." Irelia warned as she paced once more, "Apparently, after the action that sentenced the end of the war, Swain was left to his death," She looked at them all with seriousness in her expression. "But he simply refused to die."

She saw them all start whispering between them.

"Something saved his life, that time," She continued, "And, as he was saved, he realized one thing; the Noxian Empire was being commanded by someone who was mad with power. That someone's name was Boram Darkwill, the previous Grand General of Noxus, the one who ordered not only the first, but also the second invasion to Ionia."

She gulped.

"And in the second invasion to Ionia, I had my first encounter with the Hand of Noxus, a woman whose name I'd eventually learn; Riven."

She felt their eyes on her, a lingering question in the air. Their whispers had died out at some point and, now, they were completely quiet.

She chuckled, "Suddenly, we all fall silent." Irelia noted. "I know what you're thinking," She said, "I know exactly what's going on in your heads, right now and yes," She nodded her head. "Yes, she is that one . The one you've all seen me with, the warrior with white hair and blood red eyes. The one with the scarred hands, the broken blade." She stopped pacing around the room. " That woman, the woman who's been walking around this country by my side, the one that I have invited into this country, personally, is none other than Riven. The same one who fought against me that night, the same one whose hands have been stained with the blood of our fellow countrymen."

She watched them as they started mumbling between them, whispering words of fear, of anger, of confusion.

" Except ," She said loudly, reigning in, subtly demanding silence, "Except she's not the same." The hint of a smile hid on her lips as she said, "She's not the same because that invasion changed something in all of us, our enemy included, for many things happened that night: the second Noxian invasion had proved itself to be a puzzle to be solved, one which I couldn't solve alone."

She braced herself before admitting what some of them knew, what some of them suspected.

"And that's the reason why I joined forces with her: to finally solve it."

They weren't whispering anymore.

Loud complaints and sounds of confusion drowned her thoughts as the room's noise got louder and louder—

"The night the second invasion happened," Irelia continued, everyone suddenly falling quiet due to their curiosity, their desire to hear what she had to say. "Noxian troops had a very smart plan: to trick Ionian forces into believing the invasion was at our door, when it was actually right behind us. The plan was to have the whole Noxian army at the front, resisting our efforts while a small group of specialized soldiers tried to get into the Placidium through the sewers, escorting a wagon containing an unknown cargo, which they had been assured would win them the war."

She looked around as they watched her in silence, her eyes falling on Akali, on civilian clothing, camouflaged in the crowd, "And it would have worked, but a ninja of the Kinkou Order got information from someone within the Noxian army who warned us about the strategy they were hoping to implement. Being aware of their moves, we decided to leave our strongest battalion at the sewers so as to encounter the Noxian one."

She tried not to blink, for she knew she'd see a very different Riven through her mind's eye.

"So, once their invasion started, as the Noxian squadron reached the sewers, the Captain's Guard followed me into battle." She looked around, "The Captain's Guard, with me on the lead, came face to face with the Crimson Elite, Noxus' deadliest squadron, with Captain Riven at its' command. We fought each other under the rain, I saw my brothers and sisters fall, Riven saw hers fall, too, until we both stopped striking each other, for something in the skies caught our eye: a flaming arrow, coming straight for us."

She looked up at the ceiling, as if seeing the arrow fly. "As it came down, we realized it had been aimed at the wagon." She gulped, "As it hit its' objective, we realized the wagon's mysterious cargo was actually explosives."

She let out a subtle sigh, trying not to shudder at the thought. "The explosion was brutal and it knocked me off my feet. The Fire was terrible and its' smoke was thick and toxic, so I did what I could to help my soldiers but, once I saw it was a lost cause, I retreated into the city. I never knew what happened with the Noxians that were there, but I was later told they had all died in the fire, their leader included." She narrowed her eyes as she remembered it all, "But I could feel deep inside my heart that the Hand of Noxus remained alive. Call it a hunch, destiny, some spiritual connection, I don't know, but I knew Riven was alive."

She paced around the room, ""Years passed after that, but my wounds from that night haven't healed, not even one bit." She confessed out loud, "I still feel the anger I felt, I still feel confusion whenever I think of it all. For years, Il tried to make sense of that night, I tried to understand the events I witnessed, but I always ended up empty handed. During the day, I'd battle with my memory, if only to make sense of it." She steeled herself, "During the night, I battled with it, begging it to let me rest, but the ghosts of that night wouldn't leave my side."

She looked around, her eyes falling on Diana's cold ones.

"I still lose sleep over it. I still cannot close my eyes without seeing fire and death and she can tell you all that I'm not lying about this." She said, pointing at the Aspect.

Diana's gaze softened.

"I cannot go to sleep without seeing the imprint of the last image I saw that night, tattooed on the inside of my eyelids: fire and melting skin, ashes where bodies had been. Mass destruction in a matter of seconds."

Silence.

"So Riven and I fought each other right outside of the sewers, our respective battalions doing their best efforts to surpass the other, until a flaming arrow declared the end of the act, wiping out the Captain's Guard and their Noxian counterpart: the Crimson Elite."

She watched them all as some of them raised their eyebrows, whispering the name of the deadly squadron, murmuring about how they thought they were a myth.

The fear of how they actually existed settling in some of them.

She started pacing again, "Time passed and the animosity between our nations died. Noxus didn't try to invade us again and nothing was ever known about their Hand, so she was presumed dead, thing which I would have ended up believing, but then two deities chose their mortal Aspects and said Aspects wound up at our door, escorted by the one person I'd recognize absolutely anywhere."

She looked at the Targonians behind her, at the Aspects seated side by side. "When the literal representative of your deity knocks on your door, you don't stop to think who her companions are, but even then, when her companion is someone who's been dead for years, how can you expect anyone to identify her?" She huffed a laugh. " I was the only one who identified Riven, for she looked awfully close to what she looked like the last time we met, except she looked less fiery." She frowned, thinking of the right words to say. "She looked tired, wiser, calmer…"

She searched for the right word.

"She looked less Noxian, in a way." She settled for saying.

"So I allowed them in and I allowed them to stay for as long as needed," Irelia continued, hands behind her back. "Then Demacian, Targonian and Noxian troops wound up at our door, too, all because of them." She remembered with a glare, "And, for a moment, I considered it had all been a trap, some kind of treacherous strategy implemented by the Noxians, but Riven proved I was judging her wrongly, for she was the first one to spring into action, the first one to battle her own people, if only to aid our defensive efforts. It was Riven the one who took care of personally fighting those who used to be her fellow countrymen, successfully preventing them from entering the city." She frowned, not in confusion nor anger, but in determination, "And after witnessing her efforts, I knew what I had to do." She sighed, shaking her head, "I could tell Riven lost sleep over the same things that haunted me. Hell, I think she forgot what sleeping felt like for a year or two, because those who died wouldn't let her blink." Then her voice dropped as she mumbled, "And I thought I had it bad."

She snapped out of it, "After seeing how the war had changed her, I knew we were both on the same page, feeling the same frustration, dealing with the same confusion. I invited her back to Ionia, once her efforts with our Goddesses were over, for I felt there was a lot to discuss regarding that night. It kept me up, I could tell it kept her up, too and I felt like, maybe, if we joined forces and tried to solve the puzzle together, piece by piece, we'd both be able to finally see the picture, whole, complete. It took her a while but, eventually, she took my offer and came to Ionia."

"And I must confess I treated her badly as soon as she arrived," Irelia said, looking at Diana again, seeing her glaring at her, deadly. "I must admit I wasn't a good host and I mistreated her. Still, Riven never retaliated and, eventually, after days, weeks, months , I warmed up to her. We became friends."

There was the hint of a smile on Diana's face.

Irelia gulped.

Guess you can't keep secrets from the Moon.

"We discussed the events of that night, telling each other what we knew and what we didn't know and she told me one of her soldiers remained alive: an archer, who she suspected had been the one to shoot the arrow that killed both her friends and mine that night. A member of the deadly Crimson Elite who had not been in the middle of the chaos. We didn't know where he was, for we had it confirmed to us that he was not in Noxus, but we did know he was alive."

She allowed them all to whisper between them, before continuing her story. "I wanted to let it be, to let the matter die, to forget she had even told me such a thing, for I doubted we could ever find this man and even do something about it, but Riven refused to let it go." She tried not to smile at the memory, "She wanted to go to Noxus and demand his head. " She chuckled, "You see, she happens to be quite stubborn. The worst part is that it's a very contagious thing."

"So we went to Noxus, with Riven posing as the cruel Captain Riven, Hand of Noxus." Irelia continued, "Swain told us Cyrus was dead, right before he declared Riven a traitor to the Empire, taking away her citizenship, officially expatriating her and sentencing her to a trial by combat which consisted of ten ridiculously deadly duels." She frowned, "Riven didn't win her trials; we got saved by the fact that our prayers got heard above," She said, before looking at Diana and Leona. "Our Goddesses heard us and their Aspects came to our rescue." She bowed her head. "I'm still thankful for your aid."

She saw the Targonians nod their heads once.

"Before we could leave Noxus, the current Hand of Noxus found us." Irelia said, "And it's not every day that I find myself liking not one but two Noxians, so I'd like this day to go down in history as the day Captain Lito confessed she had a lot of respect in her heart for two Hands of Noxus." She saw their confused looks and continued, "General Darius found us and instead of fighting us, of bringing us back to their twisted version of justice, he turned a blind eye, not before granting us a wish; he told us Cyrus was alive and hiding in Zaun, the city-state that's adjacent to Piltover. Of course, Riven and I headed there, with Noxians on our tail."

She smirked, "There, amidst different challenges that we both as a team had to go through, we found two police women who aided us in our quest and, after some time, we found the man who we wre looking for, who admitted with no shame, no remorse, no regrets that he had killed both our squadrons, all of our friends." She looked at them all, "Today, the picture becomes a whole in front of all of us, for the criminal who killed those who we loved is here, under this same roof that we all have over our heads, now."

She realized, then, it would be important to add some information.

"And he's here because Riven chose to give him a fair trial because, had it been my choice, I would have killed him right then, right there." She chuckled, "We're the ones who value justice, who value peace, who value life and yet I was the first one in line to give him death. Riven chose to do it the right way. We get to judge him thanks to her. "

She saw their unapproving faces and knew immediately what to say next.

"But since she chose to judge him due to his war crimes against both Ionia and Noxus, I was forced to arrest her as well, for she's also committed crimes against our nation, crimes which she hasn't been judged for, unlike the ones she committed against Noxus, because it'd be really hypocritical of me to judge him, but not her." She moved back to her throne, "Both will be judged because there are crimes to pay for and justice to be served." She took a seat, "This is why everyone's been invited here; to witness the trial of two war criminals, maybe the most hated ones in all of Ionia." She looked at Diana, "I thought you would want to be here for her trial, so I invited you, too. Apologies for what must be done, for I know you hold her dear, but it has to be done. There's no choice."

Diana's eyes were cold, unreadable as she stared back, her legs crossed, her hands on the armrests, "Our Goddesses are bearing witness too, Captain Lito." Diana said, her voice eerily loud, firm, clear. "And they both favor her." She looked at the Ionians who stared in respect, in fear, in adoration, "Be wise about what's chosen as her destiny, today. Do not let my personal, mortal appreciation of my friend sway you, but do remember and be aware of the fact that both the Sun and the Moon have favored her. Earning not one but two goddesses' good graces is not a small feat."

"Everything will be taken into consideration in the big picture, my Chosen," Irelia said, before her eyes fell on Sao, who stood by the door. "Without further ado, bring out the defendants."

As she said that, Sao opened the doors.

Ban entered the room first, with two people behind him: first Cyrus, his face distorted in fury, one hand missing, the other one in a cast, chains on his arms so as to keep him in place, dressed in an Ionian robe. Behind him, dressed in the same fashion, Riven, with her head all bandaged, having only her left eye, her nose and her mouth free, visible.

She looked calm, despite the cuffs on her wrists.

Peace of mind.

She once told Sao she came here looking for peace of mind.

Maybe she reached it.

Ban marched forwards, towards the two podiums that had been placed there for Riven and Cyrus, the archer's chain on his hands as he pulled from it, forcing him to walk. He didn't have to do the same with Riven, for the woman was obliging peacefully.

In fact, she didn't even have chains to pull her in on her. She only had one that went from one of her wrists to the other, mostly due to formalities.

The three of them walked slowly towards the podiums and Irelia had to do her best to zone out and ignore the hushed whispers she could hear around the courtroom as all eyes laid on them.

The Hand of Noxus, invited to Ionia…

The Crimson Elite, under the same roof as us!

They both should hang for their crimes. Execution should be an option.

There's no way in oblivion these two aren't allied.

Once a Noxian, always a Noxian.

They're clearly scheming against us.

They made her feel tense, but then she saw Riven and noticed how the red eyed woman wasn't paying attention to them, for her expression was calm, neutral, peaceful.

She wasn't even listening.

She was beyond it all, already.

Peace of mind.

It brought her a bit of calm.

But then she saw Cyrus' green eyes glow in a different shade—

The man must have used his runic power, for he easily pulled the chains from Ban's hands and ran in the opposite direction, pushing Riven to a side, the white haired warrior offering zero resistance to his stampede—

Before he could finish running past Riven, though, the former Noxian brought her arms up and placed the chain of her handcuffs around his neck, using his own momentum against him as she choked him.

"No more running away for either of us," She quietly told him as she heard him choke, before pulling him away from the door and pushing him towards Ban, who quickly caught him.

"You're a traitor!" He screamed, looking like a rabid dog. "You're a fucking traitor, Riven!"

She looked at him, completely tranquil. "It's high time we faced justice."

And the rabid dog lost his mind.

"I'll kill you!" He screamed, in his frenzy, managing to release himself again from Ban and move towards the former Noxian—

He screamed as his skin came into contact with several floating blades, all of them suddenly surrounding him like a deadly coffin, forcing him to a stop.

Irelia stood up and stomped her way towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his robe and punching him once on the face before saying, "Now you will listen to me, you Noxian scum. You will behave like the good lap dog you are and you will face your trial with at least some dignity and manners or else I'll decide your fate in a very rash way and end your miserable existence right now!"

He spat on his face.

She punched him again with such force that the man fell to the ground.

Cleaning her face, she walked back to her throne, her blades coming with her. "Clean his cuts, please." She said, before sitting down. "Apologies for the behavior I've just displayed," She told everyone in the room, "But he manages to get on my nerves quite easily when he acts like that."

Sao approached the fallen man as Ban gripped him tightly and brought him up to his feet, quickly cleaning and bandaging the small cuts he received, before forcing him to stand on one of the podiums.

Riven silently made her way to the other one, not needing anyone to push her anywhere.

"Right now, in front of all of you, the two defendants are standing." Irelia began, "To my right, Riven. To my left, Cyrus." She said, trying to hide the poison from her voice when she said his name. "We will go one by one, judging first Cyrus, then Riven. Now, having said all of that, I'd like to proceed and explain to all of you how these trials will carry out, for they won't be under normal circumstances. The truth is that we wouldn't be able to judge Cyrus if it weren't for Riven's efforts and we wouldn't be able to judge her if it weren't for her lack of resistance when I arrested her. Considering that, the trials will follow special, one time only rules." She raised one finger in the air, "First of all, as per Riven's request, which we will grant her due to her efforts for the sake of the First Lands, Cyrus will be judged for his crimes against both Ionia and Noxus, for catching him was a joined effort of both nations. He'll be judged due to his war crimes in terms of Ionian law and his betrayal of his own men in regards of Noxian law. His trial will be carried out with a mixture of both Ionian and Noxian laws. Riven, on the other hand, considering she has already been judged by Noxian law and has been expatriated as a direct consequence, shall only face Ionian laws."

People started talking between them, surprised about Irelia's decisions, some angry, some curious.

The chatter started getting louder and louder—

" Silence!"

Everyone looked at the Targonian High Priestess that glared at them all with blind eyes.

"By our Goddesses, is all this gossiping normal here in Ionia or are you just particularly annoying, today?" She asked them all, before looking in Irelia's general direction. "Go on, dear."

Irelia was completely confused by the Priestess' behavior, so she looked at the Aspects.

Leona was holding back her laughter, biting her lip and looking away.

Diana's face was red as she slowly brought her palm to her face. "Go on, Captain Lito." She said in a tense tone, waving for her to continue.

Right.

"We will begin with Cyrus' trial." She said, "For those of you in the room who are not Ionian, let me explain how our legal procedures are. Our trials are composed by four parts: the defendant, the jury, the judge and the guardian of balance. The guardian is a person who's elected by the judge based on the nature of the trial and whose mission is to reach the best consequences to face the defendant's offenses, as unbiased as possible. The jury decides whether the conclusion reached is right or wrong and discuss it with the guardian and, finally, when guardian and jury have reached an agreement, the judge accepts it or declines it." She pointed at the jury box, where the most important people of Ionia were sat. "We already have a jury, the Emperor is always the judge, so it's my turn to take on that role and, considering the nature of this trial and of Cyrus' capture, I designate Riven as the guardian." She said, looking at the white haired warrior, who stared back with surprise. "Uncuff her for the time being. She won't go anywhere."

"You can't do that!" She heard someone scream from the spectator's seating and she immediately felt irritated by his voice.

Why is it that I feel I recognize it from somewhere?

She saw Riven roll her eye and mouth Zeylos.

Oh, the famous Zeylos.

"Zeylos," Irelia begun, "No one in this courtroom knows both Ionian and Noxian law better than Riven." She raised a brow, "No one in this courtroom knows both Ionian and Noxian law, except for Riven." She corrected herself. "On top of that, she shared a friendly relationship with the defendant at some point in her past, but said bond got replaced by enmity at some point, before it became nothing, for one cannot have the mercy she displayed with Cyrus with an enemy." She looked at him, bored, "There's no one better for the role of guardian in Cyrus' trial than her."

"I agree," Akali said from the crowd, looking nothing like the ninja she was, flying under the radar, being recognized only by Riven and Irelia. "I believe she should be the guardian."

"Me too," A woman said from the jury box.

Irelia smiled at her, "If Karma agrees with me, I believe I must have made the right choice."

So a few other Ionians voiced their agreement, Orlon's voice being heard in the crowd, too.

"She'll be the right guardian," Ban mumbled, too.

"Okay, okay, I need no more words," Sao quietly said as she approached Riven with the key to her chains and uncuffed her, smirking at the woman before whispering, "Go get him, tiger."

Riven stifled the chuckle that threatened to come out before gently running her fingers over her wrists, "Thank you," She said to Sao, nodding her head once. Then, she walked to the middle of the room and deeply bowed in front of Irelia, "Thank you, Captain," She said out loud, then bowed in front of Diana and Leona. "And thank you for attending." She said once more, before standing straight and, subtly, flashing the necklace that still hung from her neck to Diana, for she knew the Empyrean was wondering about it.

Once she saw Diana smile, she turned to Cyrus.

She completely missed the way Diana turned to Irelia with a glare and mouthed What happened to her face?

She slowly walked to him, who was flanked by the Sato siblings.

Standing a few feet away from him, Riven stared into his eyes for a second, before bowing.

The man roared and tried to lunge for her, but both Sao and Ban held him back by his arms, forcing him to keep still, in place.

Riven straightened once more, her face completely devoid of any kind of emotion as she watched him, "Seems you're not too fond of me, anymore."

"I'd kill you if these two weren't here."

"Bold words for a brazen man," Riven replied.

Silence.

She stared at the crowd of people around her.

Everywhere she looked, angry glares met her.

She turned around.

Irelia's gaze remained neutral.

She saw all of the Targonians watching her, calmly.

Fay waved at her. Bast winked.

Diana smirked.

She wouldn't be able to fulfill her task as guardian if everyone in Ionia hated her.

She had to make herself likeable.

Well, here goes nothing.

"Time goes through us," She began, probing her own words. "Time goes through us and, as it does, it changes things in us. It takes some things away and, some other times, it brings us some new things." She said, looking around. "I used to be Riven Dern, at some point in my life." She began, being sincere, turning to look at Irelia, only to see her with wide eyes. "That was my last name, in case you were still wondering about it," She commented with a smirk. "But then time passed and it took my surname with it, bringing a new set of words to put behind my name and thus I became Riven, the Hand of Noxus." She glared at everyone around her in an act, "I was called the queen of the Noxian army, for I was all of what the perfect Noxian soldier should represent. I was vicious, lethal, unforgiving, merciless, ruthless… Deadly."

She stared at them all as she played that role, her body language more aggressive, her strut with more swagger, her expression all cocky.

"But then time passed through me and it took my titles with it." She said as she tensed up, letting the aggressiveness of her body turn into wariness. "And I became Riven, the self-Exile. I was a warrior with a troubled past and ghosts that haunted me in my sleep, hunted me in my every waking." She sighed, "I felt guilty for it all."

She turned, "Then I met Diana, who you'd call My Chosen, for you think Diana is far too informal but her and I are way past formalities," She said with a smile. "And when I met Diana I became Riven, the soldier with a purpose. Still feeling guilty, but at least I had something that pushed me to live, now." She turned and looked at all of them, "You see, I was hellbent on bringing her here and helping her find her people. At first, due to my own selfish reasons, because I wanted her to help me get to Irelia. Then, I did it out of the desire to help her and nothing else. On my journey with Diana, I met Leona. Through Leona, I met Luxanna Crownguard and a tiny yordle with a big hammer. I met Demacians who I called my allies. For a moment, I even considered calling them my friends. "

"Through life's turns and time's passing, I managed to get to Irelia, to talk to her. I went from being a potential Targonian general to being a rookie in Ionia's army." Her shoulders fell as she looked down, "Then I became an official exile and my status as Noxian got revoked." She looked up again at everyone else in the room. "Time passed and left me where I am today. Today, I'm Riven, the prisoner."

Silence.

But they weren't glaring at her anymore.

Good.

"But time made me your prisoner because I allowed it to do so with me." Riven said. "You see, I learned that time can be your enemy, as much as it can be your ally. Time turned me into a prisoner because I knew it was only fair I got this treatment, for all the things I've done. Not only did it transform me into this —a slave to my own actions— it also turned me into many other things. Now, I'm Riven, the friend and personal trainer of Orlon, the Demacian mage in the Ionian army," She said, her eyes falling on the boy. "I'm also Riven, the Aspects' loyal advisor. I'm Riven, the Sato siblings' favorite soldier to torture and, at some point," She turned to look at Irelia. "I became Riven, Irelia's favorite training partner."

A beat.

"Irelia's friend."

There.

I said it.

She could feel Diana's hot stare.

Oh, shut up, you.

"Time passed for me and it took many things away but, at the same time, it brought gifts. Gifts I've taken, gifts I've greedily kept for myself and, if I could go back in time and do it all again, witness how minutes tick by and transform me into who I am today, I'd do it all over again. I'd go through this all again, if only to see Diana smile, if only to see Orlon win, if only to see Sao and Ban torment me." She smiled at her, "If only to talk with the Captain herself and share as much as we've shared."

Do not look at Diana, do not look at Diana, do not look—

"I came here looking for forgiveness." Riven said, before turning to everyone, "When Diana asked me why I wanted to go to Ionia, I told her my reason was that: forgiveness. I wanted to talk with Irelia and see her say I forgive you. " She confessed, "It took me long, but at some point she told me she forgave me for my crimes. Now, this part of the story might surprise you, so get ready." She leaned in, as if telling them a secret. "Her forgiveness did not make me feel any better." She turned to Irelia, "I'm sorry, Captain, but all of that part had been in vain. What did make me feel better, though, was the new journey I threw myself into. This time, with you, side by side with me." She thought about it, "Well, not the journey in itself. The outcome. You see, you were right: you had forgiven me, but I wasn't after your forgiveness, after all." She turned to everyone else in the room. "I was so busy, trying to find something to make me feel better about what had happened that night that it never occurred to me that, maybe, the problem was within me."

Then she said what she had been thinking of, what she had been afraid of voicing.

"What I needed to finally let go, to finally move on, was my own forgiveness. To forgive myself."

She sighed.

"It's hard to let go, when time tries to pass and you're not ready for it yet." She said, pacing around the room, "I guess sadness can be comfortable, because I learned to live with it, instead of live through and past it. I was so busy thinking I needed Irelia to forgive me, I never realized I was the one who was not accepting my past and making my peace with it. I didn't realize I needed my own forgiveness to be able to go on."

She let out a long exhale, "I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done and for what I haven't done and I know that no amount of sorry will ever bring your children back," She said, nodding her head, staring at an elderly couple who stared back with teary eyes. "Your lovers. Your friends. Your people. Whoever died shall remain dead, no matter how much I regret that night." She took a moment to steel herself, "And, because we're in court and, in here, one must not tell lies, I've got to say that the truth is that I was just a soldier in the other side of the war. What I did, I must admit, I'm not sorry for, because I was fighting for my country and, at that time, I valued my country and its' ethics. To say that I regret fighting would be hypocritical of me. What I regret is the way it carried out. I regret the betrayal, the spiteful way in which we all suffered, not due to a battle that would go down in history, but due to a brutal, treacherous attack that not even I could have seen coming." She glared at nothing in particular, "I regret not seeing sooner that my country and all of what I valued of it was nothing but a lie, that it only lived in me and in me only, that I had at least an Empire on my back, ready to stab me whenever I looked away." She shook her head. "Now that I'm in the other side of history, I am truly sorry for the Ionian losses, but I must let you know that I'm talking on behalf of who I am today. Today's Riven is sorry for the losses. The Riven that fought in that war is not, because she was doing what she felt was right." She put her palms up in surrender, "Who I used to be is not who I am today. What the history books say about me is outdated, for that Riven is dead. I killed her with my bare hands the morning after that battle." She took off the bandages that hid her scars and put them on display, "I carry her marks with me, as a reminder of what I don't wish for myself, anymore, but I still want you to know that, somehow, the deaths of your people have been avenged, for one of the last two remaining killers has been murdered the morning after. Maybe that's what makes this all a bit more bearable for me; to think that I've killed the part of me that did it all, but I must say that a few things of her still stick with me, things that are part of my personality, of who I've always been, who I'll always be. This Riven with no last name, just like the Riven who used Hand of Noxus as her last name, share one thing and that's the fact that we're ruthless. Irelia found it in herself to forgive me after a while. I still haven't."

"Because, if there's one thing that I've learned during all these months I've been here, these months that I've been by Irelia's side, is that for redemption to be granted, justice must be served first." Riven continued, loud. "I feel like I haven't seen justice yet, I feel like I owe a lot to you. I know this is not my trial, but I do hope I'm brought into justice when the time's right." She lowered her head. "I feel like I needed to let you know how I feel, before properly addressing the matter at hand."

And she was greeted with silence.

A long one.

But then she saw the elderly couple she had been staring at bring their right hand up, their middle and index fingers touching their foreheads, before dragging those two fingers down to their lips.

She watched as, slowly, but surely, everyone else in the room did the same.

Even Ban. Even Sao.

She turned to look at Irelia.

She found her with her index and middle fingers already on her lips.

"What does it mean?

"It's an old sign of respect." Irelia said, a smile she couldn't hide, displayed on her lips. "For you."

Riven smiled back, surprised by the gesture, before looking ahead and bowing her head.

A few seconds passed—

"Oh, absolutely adorable," Cyrus moaned out, positively annoyed. "The little village of monkeys respects the evolved one," He said, spitting the word respect out, before narrowing his eyes, "Though I start to believe that you're not evolved at all and you're just another filthy monkey. "

Riven straightened, letting out a loud sigh, opening her eye to look at him with a pitiful look. "For a second, I forgot you were even here. You see, you're actually likeable when you don't open your ugly mouth."

Cyrus was surprised by her reply, "Oh, so you still do have a backbone, sometimes?" He laughed, "I must admit, Captain, I always believed you were moronic, but I still respected you for being Noxian." He smiled, "For a moment, I thought you weren't it, anymore."

"Because I'm not," Riven replied, already bored of him, "I've been expatriated, Cyrus." She raised her brow, "Is it really that not only you're stupid, you're also deaf?" She tried not to laugh at the angry glare she received, "I am no longer Noxian, but I still do respect and admire the values that I once fought for." She moved around the room, "I like to think I still do have the good traits I fought very hard for and those which I realised weren't as good, I discarded." She came to a stop right in front of him. "I'm not Noxian because, today, I'm way better." She smiled at him, "But I can still bark back and I can still bite as hard, maybe even harder." Her head lolled to a side, "Just so you know."

He roared in anger, his eyes glimmering as he tried to lunge for her, but Sao and Ban stopped him, again.

"Before you begin," Irelia said, making everyone look at her. "I must clarify that his case, since it will be treated with both Noxian and Ionian laws, will allow for Noxian consequences to ensue: an execution or a fleshing of sorts." She told Riven, though she said it out loud, letting everyone hear. "He's already proven guilty and he needs the Sun and the Moon themselves to advocate for him for me to at least consider him anything but guilty, but you might come to a different out come of this trial that's not an execution, like what I'd gladly accept."

She nodded her head, "We'll see,"

Then she cleared her throat.

"The man that cannot speak without insulting me that you see here, today, is called Cyrus." She said to the public, "He used to be one of the five integrants of a special, secret squadron of warriors that Noxus had: the Crimson Elite." She looked around and saw curiosity in many eyes. "I was also part of it: I was its' founder and, therefore, leader." She looked at him, before pacing around the room again. "The Crimson Elite was the most efficient group of soldiers Noxus had, deadlier than any other asset in the Empire, including the Du Coteau siblings that you may know of." She heard hushed whispers at the mentioning of their last name, which confirmed her suspicions. "Since we were so important, we were declared a national secret and nobody could ever have our existence confirmed. Therefore, we became a legend, a story to tell children, an irrational yet very rational fear of our enemies. Our small battalion would lead assassinations and infiltrations only, thus ensuring our status as unknown would remain that way. During the second invasion of Ionia, the Crimson Elite had been commanded to carry out a strategic duty: to escort a wagon containing amphorae with unknown contents into the heart of Ionia, the Placidium, through a number of sewers that would be unguarded. Once in the Placidium, we were to fight our way out. This was commissioned by Grand General Darkwill himself and he was the kind of man who disliked questions. Since I was the Hand of Noxus, I had some immunity to his bad temper, so I did try asking him about the amphorae's contents, but he refused to tell me." She shrugged, "Still, the job sounded simple, so the Crimson Elite took it and we carried it out."

She frowned in concentration. "Before the mission started, we met with a scientist from Zaun whose name was Singed." She couldn't keep herself from sneering his name out. "He instructed us to take care of the amphorae and to leave Cyrus behind, for he'd serve as a line of defense for us and the cargo. He wouldn't be in the battlefield, being far enough to be safe from danger instead, but close enough to aid if need be. We would always use strategies of combat like that one, so we agreed immediately." Her frown deepened, this time in anger. "Then, when we were in the middle of the battle, a flaming arrow came from our side and exploded the cargo, wiping out everyone."

She looked around, "Cyrus and I are the only living members of the Crimson Elite that remain." She looked at Irelia, "I don't know how many Ionians died that night, but—"

"I was the only survivor." Irelia simply stated.

Riven stared at her for a moment, in silence, before looking ahead again. "The morning after that night, I couldn't deal with the loss, with the feeling that I had failed everyone who had put their trust on me, so I broke my broadsword with my own hands, leaving behind the scars I now have, which are a product of my own doing and of that terrible fire. The rest is history. Many things that happened that night didn't make much sense to me," She looked at the archer, "But I believe Cyrus could help me by filling in the blanks in my mind, right?"

" Fuck you."

She looked at him with a glare.

"Here is what you don't understand, defendant." Irelia started from the Throne. "In here, you're guilty until proven less guilty. There's no way for you to come out unharmed. If you cooperate, you might be able to do something to defend your case and avoid the butcher's block but if you don't help at all, you will find yourself missing your head very soon."

Cyrus smiled, "Not very peaceful of you, Ionian." She huffed a laugh, "A bit extreme, I dare say."

"If I'm judging you with Noxian laws in mind, too, I might as well be a bit extreme. Besides, Ionia is all about balance and death demands death."

"Death would demand life," Cyrus barked back, "See? You understand nothing."

"A murder demands the murderer's life." Irelia corrected for him, anger on his expression. "Do not try to school me on my own country's ways, defendant, for you'll find out I'm quite the expert."

They were brought out of their angry tug of war by Diana and Leona, who had gotten up from their seats during their argument and walked up to Cyrus.

They bowed their heads slightly at the Sato siblings. "May we take your roles?" Diana asked calmly.

They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. It wasn't protocolar but could they ever deny their Goddesses?

They eyed Irelia in a desperate need for help, for they had no clue on how to respond to the Aspects—

Irelia was wide eyed, nodding her head and waving at them to quickly obey.

"Yes, my Chosen," Sao said, letting Diana take Cyrus' right arm on her hands, Ban doing the same with Leona.

Riven watched them in confusion.

"We'd love to sit and watch, hear what you've got to say, Riven," Diana said, "But, truth be told, we're both quite done with him being so disrespectful, so rude and so uncooperative." She smiled, "So we've decided to come and help you with his trial. Maybe we can convince him of aiding you with his declarations."

Riven saw the wary look in Cyrus' eyes as he looked into Diana's silver ones and smiled, "Even the toughest of Noxians would see themselves intimidated by her eerie stare, no?"

"Shut the fuck up—"

The Noxian screamed as Diana's hand became alit with a silvery glow, her touch so freezing cold it burned, or maybe it felt like fire, he wasn't sure.

All he knew was that it burned.

Badly. Very badly.

He didn't want to experience that again.

"If you keep this up, you'll soon find out Leona has the same kind of ability. We will not react to your words as long as you're cooperative, Cyrus," Diana said, the name of the one who had hurt her dearest friend being nothing but venomous to her as it left her mouth, "So, for your own wellbeing, try to be."

He glared at her, but said nothing.

A good step in the right direction.

"Cyrus."

A beat.

Leona's grip, Diana's grip.

"Yes, Captain?" Between clenched teeth.

"You used to be part of the Crimson Elite."

"Yes."

"Which role did you usually take in it?"

"I was the first and last line of defense," He said, out loud, "I'm an archer, so I usually stood behind and attacked from afar."

"You did that same thing during the invasion, as per Singed's personal request."

"I did."

"Do you remember how wary you were, that night, when he asked you to stay back?"

A second, then a nod of his head, "I do."

Riven got close, "Had that been an act?"

Cyrus stared at her.

Leona and Diana did not push him.

Not yet.

"No."

The two Celestials looked at him.

Riven raised a brow. "No?"

He shook his head. "No. I didn't trust Singed."

"And yet you were living with him, in Zaun."

"Because I hadn't trusted him then," He said, a bit annoyed by Riven's interrogation. "But I learned to trust him with time."

"I want you to tell me the process of your betrayal."

Cyrus raised a brow. "I didn't betray Noxus."

"I never said your betrayal was with Noxus." Riven said, calmly. "You betrayed the Crimson Elite." She thought of it for a moment, "But as Noxians, you could say that, in a way, you betrayed Noxus. Besides, Swain claims you're a traitor."

He looked alarmed at that, "He claims—"

"I will tell you what I know from him after you tell me how the betrayal had been planned." Riven cut him off, still as polite as she had been.

He froze, mouth still open as his eyes unfocused while he thought.

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"A time before the second invasion happened —I don't know exactly how much time, so don't ask me— Jericho Swain approached me. He talked to me as a friend and asked me how I felt with Darkwill's government. I told him I was fine with it, but he made me realize I had never really thought about it until then." He glared at nothing in particular as he remembered. "Days passed, Swain still approached me from time to time and we discussed Darkwill. After some time, I concluded that he wasn't fit to rule."

Riven narrowed her eyes, "You mentioned something like that to me, at some point."

Cyrus' eyebrows rose. "You remember?"

"Of course I do." Riven said, her eyes devoid of any kind of indication as to what she was feeling. "My memory can be both a blessing and a curse." Not letting him react to that, she continued, "You asked me how I felt about it."

"And you almost accused me of treason for even asking."

Riven raised a brow, "Who would have thought I could predict the future."

"I asked you what you thought of him and you told me you followed him blindly."

"Because he was our leader and with good reason. Doubting him would have been treason, because there was no reason to doubt him. He was doing all in his power to bring honor to Noxus, defending our main values ." She frowned, "That's what I told you that night."

"Do you still believe that?"

Silence.

"No." Riven confessed, "He betrayed my trust the moment he allied with Zaun and decided to use the chemical terrors against Ionia. That's not the Noxian way and I would have never stood by it, had I known."

"Would you have defied him?"

Riven didn't even think twice as she said, "Absolutely." She saw him ready to accuse her, "But I would have told you and the rest of the Elite." She sentenced, making him shut his mouth before he could speak. "I would have warned you."

"Why?" He said, his lip going up, baring his teeth, though there was no intentional malice, "Why would you warn of a treacherous act?"

"Because the Crimson Elite was beyond Noxus," She told him, "We were a country of our own, in a way. I owed loyalty to Noxus due to my status as Hand, but my soul laid with the squadron." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "With Leah, Aryana, Lucas. With you. I know that had I told you of such an act, all of you would have, at least, thought about it."

"Thought about what?"

"About joining me in my treason."

Silence.

Riven narrowed her eyes, "You would have joined, wouldn't you?"

Cyrus stared at her.

Diana and Leona did, too.

He closed his eyes and mumbled something.

"What?"

" Yes, I said yes." He admitted. "I would have struggled a lot with it at first but I would have done it in the end."

"And you think we wouldn't have done the same with you?" She looked hurt. "Do you think I wouldn't have struggled at first, only to end up rallying the fight against whoever you wished to bring down?"

Cyrus stared at her.

Riven realized something, then, "You didn't even think about it, did you?"

"No, I didn't." He said, "After all I talked with Swain and that one single chat with you, I felt like no one in the Elite would have followed me."

"Swain convinced you that you could only trust him," She said, her voice calm. "When your trust should have been laid solely on us."

The deadly anger, the resolve that had hidden in Cyrus' toxic stare suddenly faded away.

After sharing a silent look with each other, Leona and Diana let go of him, going back to their seats.

Ban and Sao didn't return to take their spots.

They knew he'd cooperate.

Riven looked at the crestfallen man. "Tell me how the scheming went."

"Swain made me see that Darkwill wasn't fit to rule, because Noxus' power went up to his head. He carried out these impossible bellic campaigns against all of these enemies at the same time and it all was bound to bring Noxus down to the ground. We could have defeated all of our enemies, but one by one, not all at once. Still, Darkwill didn't listen and our numbers slowly decreased. We had to act and we had to act fast and the solution was clear; Darkwill had to die, we had to get rid of him. I was willing to help in the mission, to bring Noxus back to its' original glory, but Swain managed to make me believe that I couldn't trust in you nor anyone else in the Elite, for your loyalties laid with Darkwill."

He let out a long exhale. "He commanded me to await new orders, act as a sleeping agent of sorts. After some time, he gave me the news; he managed to contact a Zaunite scientist, a chemist —Singed—, who would develop a biological weapon and offer to form a shady alliance between Zaun and Noxus to Darkwill who, in his desperation to win, would accept, damning all Noxian values to Hell."

Riven chuckled, "To Hell with the domination of the strongest."

" Darkwill immediately accepted." Cyrus continued. "He decided to keep the plot a secret, for he knew no one really would back him up." He stared into her eyes, "He decided to keep it a secret from you, too, because he knew you'd never stand by it. He knew that would be the one thing to make you turn your back on him."

"It was a dirty move." Riven said, a glare on her expression. "It was foul and I would have never allowed it, had I known."

Cyrus nodded his head, "Exactly. Noxians don't win wars with cheap tricks; we win wars through strength, but Darkwill knew the Noxian army's strength faltered, so he turned to cheap tricks."

"Just like Swain wanted."

"Just like Swain wanted." Cyrus echoed, "The plan was simple; to give Darkwill this fake alliance and powerful weapon and to make it explode in his face, in a poetical way. Swain knew that, in order to kill Darkwill, you had to be dead too or, at least, far away, so he arranged the alliance between Zaun and Noxus so as to persuade Darkwill of restarting the campaign against Ionia." He raised a brow, "He'd kill Darkwill in Noxus while I took care of you and the Elite in Ionia. Swain did his part. I thought I had done mine too, but not too long ago I learned I had failed."

"When you saw my face around."

Cyrus nodded, "For a moment, I thought I was seeing your ghost."

Riven raised a brow.

Did the ghosts of that night torment him, too?

"So Swain killed Darkwill while you, with the help of Singed, killed me and the rest of the Crimson Elite."

"That's right."

"You knew all along what the biological weapon was."

"Yes."

"You also knew fire would detonate it."

"Yes."

Riven narrowed her eyes. "Did you know that the sewer that was theoretically unguarded was guarded by the Captain of the Ionian guard?"

Cyrus closed his eyes. "Yes."

What? "How did you know?"

He opened them again, looking into Riven's red ones, "Because I warned her."

"What?"

"What?" Irelia echoed.

And they didn't hear it, drowned in everyone's surprised, hushed whispers, but a woman with black hair in the crowd quietly mumbled out a silent what?

"Swain's plan was long term and had the possibility of, at some point, making the Ionian campaign possible." Cyrus explained. "We had to kill both Darkwill and the Crimson Elite at the same time and in separate places and, for that, we had to convince Darkwill of not backing off the Ionian campaign, so that you'd be there with the Elite. In order to do that, Swain would develop the alliance between Zaun and Noxus and, with it, he'd bring Singed's invention to the talk, thus ensuring the campaign would be kept up, Darkwill would be alone with him and I'd have the necessary to eliminate you. Since we had to do all of this and since part of it would be a massive explosion in Ionian territory, Swain considered that, maybe, it would be a great opportunity to kill Captain Lito of the Ionian Guard." His eyes moved to Irelia, "Don't take it personal, Captain. He doesn't care about the arm you cut off him, but he knew one thing; as long as you lived, Ionia would still stand."

"So, because of such fact, he wanted Irelia dead." Riven thought, "To make the Ionian campaign actually possible, at some point."

Cyrus nodded, "Let's face it; the Noxian army wouldn't have managed to enter the city. Had you managed to escort the cargo to the Placidium, now that could have been interesting, but I think our conquest of the First Lands would have been short lived; we would have been kicked out sooner or later. Maybe the Crimson Elite would have been killed, maybe not. Maybe Lito would have been killed, maybe not, but it was leaving too much room for chance and, as Swain said, as long as Captain Lito lived, Ionia was going to prevail."

"Both the Crimson Elite and Darkwill would have probably gotten the credit for the conquest, making Swain's claim of the Noxian Empire stand over nothing, making everyone distrust him and leaving him with an eventual coup." Riven finished for him as she thought of it.

Cyrus nodded, "Exactly." He agreed, "The Ionian campaign would have failed at some point, for we had no way of ensuring Noxian domination in the long term even if we managed to take the Placidium, but the thing is that, no matter what, our goal was another one: we had to kill you and Darkwill and, as we did that, we had to make sure people would back our claims up by seeing Darkwill for what he was; unfit to rule."

"So that meant that you had to sabotage the Ionian campaign and assure its' failure."

Cyrus nodded. "In order to do that, the moment the plan became clear, Swain commanded me with a new task; while he secured the alliance with Zaun and talked out the biological weapon's plan with Singed, I had to become an informant for Ionia, earn their trust and inform them of our strategies." He shifted on his feet, "I thought it would be a difficult task, but it proved quite easy." He looked at Riven, a smirk on his face, "After a certain time of reaching out in vain, I managed to contact a ninja from the Kinkou Order and tell her of the plan. She informed Captain Lito and the rest is history."

Everyone in the room appeared to have gasped at the same time.

Riven, in silence, turned her head to look at Irelia with confusion on her features.

She was beet red.

"You never told me—"

"You never asked." She said, truthfully, feeling a bit embarrassed, a bit stupid. "You never asked me how we knew about your plan. If you had asked, I would have told you."

Riven looked back at Cyrus, to find him with a smirk and a sheepish look.

The noise kept getting loud and louder—

"Silence!"

Everyone quieted down at the Empyrean Priestess' voice.

Again.

Riven looked back at her, "Thank you, Helena."

She waved her off, "Continue the trial." She got comfortable, "It's getting interesting."

Riven turned to Cyrus. "You warned a ninja from the Kinkou Order."

Cyrus nodded his head. "I never learned her name."

Riven raised a brow, " Her?"

Cyrus nodded. "That's all I know."

And Riven had the feeling she knew exactly who he was talking about, but still she shook her head as if to snap out of it. "On to more pressing matters," She said, "So you had to form a sort of bond with Ionia as an informant while Swain formed an alliance with Zaun."

"Yes," Cyrus said.

"How come the alliance with Zaun is still ongoing, then?" Riven asked, "Wasn't it fake?"

Cyrus lolled his head to a side, "Not exactly. The alliance was between Swain's Noxus and Zaun, therefore Darkwill was an enemy." Cyrus explained, "Once Darkwill was killed and Swain took over, the alliance finished settling."

"What's the use of such an alliance?" Riven questioned

"Well, Swain believes Noxus could use a friend or two. He believes we should change our way of living a bit and see that there's strength to be found in alliance. Our alliance with Zaun is political and economical; both countries trade with each other and back political decisions."

"Hence the fact that you hid in Zaun."

Cyrus nodded.

Riven raised a brow, thinking of it all.

And, alone, Cyrus continued his part of the story.

"The plan was to make the cargo explode during a battle between the Ionian Guard and you, for you both were the main assets to eliminate in Ionia." He explained. "If I had shot while you all walked to the sewers, there was a slight chance you and the rest of the Elite would have survived and Captain Lito wouldn't have been there, so I had to wait the battle was a bit advanced, with Ionian numbers surpassing you to finish it all."

"You warned them about the Elite or just about the strategy?"

"Both," Cyrus said. "I needed them to surround the Elite."

Riven nodded her head. "Now that we know what actually happened that night, mind explaining what happened with you after?"

"Swain told me the mission had been a success, but declared that I couldn't return to Noxus just yet, so he sent me into hiding in Zaun, letting me know I'd be protected by the Empire."

Riven nodded her head. "I doubt anyone in Noxus knows about the fact that you're alive, Cyrus."

He frowned, "What?"

"Irelia and I traveled to Noxus," Riven said, "We met with Swain and not only did he claim you were dead, he classified you as a traitor to the country." She finished saying. "Taking into consideration that he could have been protecting you from us, it would make sense for him to tell us that you're dead to deter our search. It would even make sense for him to lie and say you're considered a traitor, so that we wouldn't suspect of the plot that played out that night, but still. He admitted to assassinating Darkwill, so lying about everything else is a bit dubious. In Noxus, nobody knows about what happened. Those who know who you are, think you're dead. Those who know about the explosion, think you're a traitor." She looked at him with pity, "I might be in the wrong here, for I am only guessing, but I think you were never meant to go back to Noxus; I believe Swain betrayed you."

Cyrus looked devastated by the news. "How did you find out I was alive?"

"Darius told me." Riven said.

Cyrus chuckled, " Of course he did." He was smirking, then, "He's always been your lap dog."

Riven smirked back, "Can you blame him, though? I'm a great mentor."

"That you are, Captain."

Riven huffed a laugh at that. "I am not your Captain anymore, Cyrus," She said, "You've been expelled from the Crimson Elite." She raised a brow, "Are you maybe realizing the grave mistake you made when you betrayed us?"

He shook his head, "Even when they're all dead, you still say us, not me. For a Noxian, you're quite the team player."

"Maybe I was meant to, at some point, stop being Noxian."

He nodded. "Maybe." He sighed, "And yes, I think I do regret it, but what's been done shall remain as it is."

Riven nodded once, for she could read between the lines, what he had tried to say.

I shall face whatever consequences my actions have.

"People change," She started, out loud. "That's a thing that happens; people change." She looked at Diana, at Leona. "Diana is pretty much the same as she was when I met her, but Leona is a completely different person. She's someone who has learned from her mistakes and who has used their valuable lessons to evolve into someone better."

"Thankfully."

She ignored Diana's hushed comment and looked at Irelia. "Captain Lito changed quite a lot, too," She went on, "She allowed herself to open up to me and, through getting to know me, she's learned a few things that have made her different." She turned to the crowds, "I've changed so much that if you placed me right in front of who I used to be I wouldn't recognize that person as myself, for we're an ocean apart." She looked at Cyrus. "I cannot tell you with certainty how much Cyrus has changed, for I don't really know him and, truth be told, he has made me feel as if I have never known him in the first place, but one thing I can tell you for sure; time changes us all, whether we like it or not and, once we realize our mistakes, the change is not only inevitable but also life-shifting and permanent. This court uses Noxian laws and, according to them, Cyrus' confession demands his execution."

And after saying the words she imagined would make everyone begin to whisper uncontrollably, not a fly could be heard in the room.

She realized, then, that everyone stared expectantly at her, wishing to know if such an ending was the one she would choose for him.

"By Noxian law, he should die." She repeated, "But by Ionian law, as both Irelia and Cyrus have said, death demands life for balance to be restored." She said, "Now, I'm not an expert on how Ionian laws work and I don't intend to be, but I believe that different readings could be made of the same sentence. Balance must be restored and it doesn't matter how, as long as equilibrium is found once more." She frowned in determination, "I believe that Cyrus has to pay for all the lives he's destroyed with his own life, but not by surrendering it. I think he should give it away in a different manner."

"What are you thinking of?"

She turned to look at Irelia. "Are the lands from the fire he started healed?"

"No." Irelia said, "No one ever dared go back to that zone."

"Then I think it's clear," Riven replied. "I think he should work the lands he destroyed, bring them back to life, for as long as he's alive." She looked at Cyrus. "He should work for what he needs to live a comfortable life and then some to repay the damage he's done to the First Lands. That same thing until his very last breath." She looked at Irelia again, "I don't know about you, but I think that a whole life is way more valuable than a quick death. It should be enough to right his wrongs and maybe even tilt the scale the other way." She felt Diana's stare and saw her smiling, so she asked, "What is it?"

"I was thinking that if you had to make this same decision when I first met you, you wouldn't have hesitated; you would have executed him on the spot."

Riven shrugged, "Guess not anymore."

"A lifetime working the ground for the First Lands," Irelia said out loud in an authoritative voice. "Is that your sentence for the defendant, guardian?"

Riven nodded her head. "Yes, I think that's what should happen to him."

Irelia narrowed her eyes, "Very well." She turned to the jury box, only to find them all talking between themselves. "Jury?"

It was Karma who spoke, "The guardian's choice seems ideal for balance to be preserved."

There was a hint of a smile on Irelia's face as she looked at Riven once more and said, "You've lied before, Riven, when you said I knew mercy and you didn't." Her gaze softened, "Because I wouldn't have been as kind with him as you've been."

Riven shrugged, "Maybe I'm just merciless with myself."

Irelia chuckled. "That you are. Very well, I agree with this choice as well." She looked at Cyrus. "Defendant, you're sentenced to a lifetime of labor. You are expected to work our lands, fix the wrongs of your past, pay the price of blood that you've taken with your sweat and hard work, until your very last breath." She took a moment to think, before continuing, "You will be provided with a place to live in and basic commodities, for as long as you remain respectful of the lands you will now call home and the people you will now call neighbors. You won't be judged by your country of origin and those who do judge you by it will be prosecuted, but respect is something you will have to earn on your own. Last, but not least, before I forget, you are not allowed to wield your runic power in any shape or form. If you do, I will personally search for the runes on your skin and get rid of them, somehow." She raised a brow, "Do you have any questions?"

He raised his arms, "Will I keep on receiving medical attention?" He glared at Riven, "I'm already missing one, I didn't need you basically ripping the other one off, too."

Riven smiled sweetly, "You were being obnoxious."

"We have a special medic who'll take care of your hand." Irelia said, "So yes, you will keep on receiving as much medical attention as you need, provided—"

"Provided I keep myself in check, yes, yes, I know." He finished for her, as annoyed as he had always been, but quite less aggressive.

Irelia let it fly. "Good." She looked at Ban, "Take him away. We'll show him his new home later."

So Ban grabbed him by the arm and walked with him to the door—

"Riven."

He stopped as Cyrus spoke.

He looked back at Riven.

"You were right. You're definitely not fit to be Noxian."

Riven smirked, being able to read Cyrus' words for what they were.

A sign of respect. A sign of gratefulness.

So she nodded her head in acknowledgement and, with that, Ban walked out of the room, Cyrus close behind.

"That leaves us with only one other trial." Irelia said, looking at Riven. "Yours."

Riven brought her hands together, "I guess I'm being cuffed again, no?"

Irelia shook her head. "It won't be necessary." She said, "But you should walk to the defendant's spot."

So, without needing anyone to push her in the right direction, Riven moved to the podium where Cyrus had been not too long ago.

Silence took over the court as everyone settled once more.

The thing to break the silence was Irelia's long exhale.

"For your trial, I think we will have to change the roles a little," Irelia said, before looking at Karma. "Karma, I think everyone can agree with me that, of all people in this courtroom, you're the one with the most interest in keeping balance intact and, therefore, the most unbiased of them all."

Everyone around them nodded their heads and spoke their agreement, which prompted Karma to stand and say, "It would seem so."

Riven raised a brow, "Is she going to be the guardian?"

"The guardian is not an easy role, Riven." She started, "For someone to be the guardian, not only must they be unbiased, they must also be able to know what to ask from the defendant so as to display the whole story to everyone in this courtroom, so no, I don't think Karma could be your guardian." She looked at the Ionian again, "That's why I want to ask you if you would so kindly step forwards as the judge."

Everyone in the room was positively confused by such a proposal.

" Order!" Irelia commanded, successfully silencing them all. "Truth is I cannot be the judge of Riven's trial, because I find myself torn and I know that my choice of agreeing or not with the guardian may be tainted by my personal relationship with the defendant. I wish to decline my duties as the judge in this one trial, for I know my personal interests will get in the way of Ionia's. Besides, there's no one better than Karma to take the role in my stead." She looked at Karma. "What do you say?"

Karma thought of it for a brief moment, before nodding her head. "I think your decision is wise, Captain. I'll take on the role."

So Irelia stood from the throne and walked to the middle of the room, letting Karma take her place on the Emperor's chair.

"The jury doesn't need someone replacing your position, I believe."

"Not really." Karma agreed.

Irelia saw Sao ready to move from the Captain of the Guard's spot, ready to give it back to its' rightful owner, but Irelia shook her head once, successfully keeping her in place.

"If I may be so bold, I'd like to propose a guardian for Riven's trial."

Karma raised a brow, already knowing what Irelia would say. "Who do you propose?"

"Myself."

Karma smiled, "I was actually going to propose you as guardian as well, but I'd like to hear your reasoning as to why you're the best choice."

Irelia looked at Riven, "I used to hate this woman. I wanted her dead and, for years, I dreamt of her; dreams where I killed her, nightmares where she killed me." Her eyes narrowed, "I despised her with every little part of my being and yet, despite despising her, I invited her back, to try and find what about her kept calling me in." Her eyes softened, "With time, I got to know her and she got to know me and today I can tell you I don't hate her anymore. If anything, the opposite."

And it was up to their interpretation what the opposite was.

Irelia knew.

Riven hoped.

The rest were oblivious, save for a clever few, Diana, Leona, Helena amongst them.

"You're rather biased then, personally speaking," Karma said, "So you're not fit to be guardian." And before Irelia could speak, for she knew the Captain desperately wanted to defend her case, " But your duty with Ionia does sway you away from her," Karma continued, knowing it was exactly what Irelia would say. "Because it's always been with you, because you feel you owe yourself to your land, because you are Irelia Lito, Captain of the Ionian Guard and you'd rather choose what's best for Ionia over what's best for you. Hence why you chose me as the judge and offered yourself as the guardian. Aren't I correct?"

Irelia's mouth hung open, so she closed it, before opening it again to say, "Yes."

"Very well," Karma said, nodding her head once. "I think everyone who knows Riven is biased, one way or another, but you're the only one who's completely torn between two; your duty with your country and your relationship with her, so that makes you, in the greater scheme of things, unbiased in a way and, therefore, the best option for a guardian. Does everyone in the room agree with me?" She asked.

"Zeylos, whoever the Hell you are, before you speak," Helena said in the middle of the silence, "You're not allowed to." She looked in Karma's vague direction, "There. We all agree she's the right choice. Go on."

She raised her brows, amused by the quirky Priestess.

"We have no control over her," Leona offered as an explanation. "She can even speak with our Goddesses," She said, with a defeated look, "She's beyond us and, at this point, I think she's already beyond terrenal life."

"Consider me a third Chosen." Helena said, cockily. "Now, go on," She waved her hand as if motioning for them to continue, "This is getting really interesting."

Karma smiled, if only to keep herself from chuckling, "Very well," She looked at Irelia, "You may begin."

She turned to Riven, only to find her staring, waiting.

Irelia smiled, "I think we've said quite a lot, already about you, haven't we?"

Riven smiled back, "I think we have."

Irelia walked up to her, "You fought for Noxus the night of the second Invasion as the army's rightful leader."

"Not exactly," Riven replied, "As the Hand of Noxus, I was the leader of the Noxian army, that's true, but since my mission was to infiltrate Ionia through the sewers with my squadron, I couldn't really lead them into battle, so I designated my second in command as the temporary leader of the army while I worked as the Crimson Elite's leader."

"Darius?"

Riven nodded. "That's right."

"I thought he'd be part of the Crimson Elite, considering he was your right hand."

Riven shook her head, "I needed my right hand out of the Elite, in case things went south for the squadron. If we were to die in a mission, he'd automatically become the Hand of Noxus. It was a way to ensure the Empire would still have someone competent in control of their most powerful asset; their army."

"You put your country before your personal desires."

Riven nodded her head. "Much like you, though my country is not my country anymore."

Irelia nodded. "Right, you were expatriated." Her head lolled to a side. "How did you ever get there? How did you ever go from Hand of Noxus to expatriated?" Before Riven could speak, Irelia cut her off, "Wait, I want you to first tell me about the morning after the invasion. Then, tell us all your story."

She was giving her a chance to prove she was different to all of Ionia.

Not like she hasn't done so, already, but oh well. A little bit more couldn't harm anyone.

Riven thought of it for a second. "After the explosion, I lost consciousness on the battleground and remained there until the morning. I had passed out with my friends and enemies' faces imprinted on the inside of my eyelids. When I came back to my senses, morning was just minutes away. I tried to gather my surroundings, only to find out that my friends and my foes were nothing but burned corpses." She shook her head, "It didn't matter who they were, what mattered was that they were all dead. I realized then that, in death, we're all the same." She looked at Irelia, "It hadn't been a war, it had been extermination and I hadn't signed up for that; I had been tricked into it. Like you, like most of my squadron, like all of yours."

She licked her lips, her mouth dry. "They were unrecognizable. It took me long that morning, but eventually I managed to tell each of the dead ones' faces from their bodies, because they had all died the same way; with their mouths open in one last scream as they burned to death with that Zaunite's invention." She sighed, shaking her head, "I felt like even the atmosphere had been burned to a crisp." She sentenced, watching Irelia as she nodded her head, knowing the feeling herself.

"So I memorized each of their faces," Riven continued, "It didn't matter which side they had fought for. I struggled to move, but I memorized each of their faces. Nevermind the pain my body was in; the worst wound had been left on my soul." She gulped, "After that, I wondered why I was even alive." She closed her eyes, "I thought of killing myself." She looked at Irelia again, "Then I saw my own blade, still perfect, not a dent on it and decided it was its' fault; it was Noxus' fault, it was Darkwill's fault, it was my fault and that blade was me so, if I couldn't gather the courage to kill myself, I could, at least, find it in me to destroy the one thing that made me who I was." She looked down, "So I shattered it with my own hands." She said, watching her fingers as they flexed.

She looked at Irelia once more, her eyes alit with an emotion she hadn't seen on the Ionian before, but disregarded it as she continued her story. "After everything that had happened, I ran away, letting them all think I was dead. It took me a while, but I eventually learned that you had retreated back to the city and saved Ionia from the Noxian troops. That day, I realized what I'd want to do next; I'd find I a way to pay for my sins, no matter how long it took me."

Irelia stared at her, "A lot has happened ever since you reached that conclusion."

Riven nodded her head, "Ever since reaching that conclusion, I wandered around, living in the woods. One night, I met Diana. " She looked at the Chosen of the Moon with a smile, "The Empyreans hadn't returned by then, being split in two religions, so we fought side by side against some creatures and that same night we made a deal; I'd help her find the Lunari, for I believed they hid in Ionia, as long as she helped me earn your forgiveness. After getting to know each other, I found myself rather fond of her, so I promised I'd help her find her people no matter what, without expecting anything in return."

"You had abandoned your personal interests."

Riven nodded, "I decided her mission was far more important than mine, so I promised her we'd find the Lunari, no matter what, no matter how. In return, without me asking for it, she promised she'd make all of Ionia pardon me."

Irelia chuckled, her eyes going to Diana for a second, before going back to Riven. "What else happened in this journey of yours?"

"I met Leona after some time and I despised her like I would despise my own enemies." Riven continued, her eyes going to the Chosen of the Sun. "We fought many times and, in one of said encounters, I also met Luxanna Crownguard, Garen Crownguard's sister."

Irelia's eyebrows rose at that. "The Demacian siblings?"

Riven nodded. "We fought each other at first. Then, one day, Leona came to us, alone. She was still doubtful of us, but she decided to give it a chance and became our reluctant ally in our search for answers. Through her, Luxanna became an ally and after one short lived conversation with her, I decided I liked her enough to hold no animosity against her." She sighed, "Then we arrived here, you still hated me, I didn't know how to react to seeing you again, we found the Lunari, we fought right outside of Ionia against Targonians, Demacians and Noxians and, after all that chaos finished, you kicked Leona and Diana out of Ionia and told them not to come back, for the mess had being their fault. I, on the other hand, was a whole different story; you invited me back, for you believed we had a lot to discuss."

Irelia smiled, "And that we did."

Riven nodded, "It took me a year, I think, but I finally came back. You constantly humiliated me at first," She said, a vague tone of annoyance in her voice, "But I knew I had it coming, so I lowered my head and allowed you to do as you pleased with me. You put me in the Ionian army as a rookie, where I met Orlon, yet another Demacian."

Irelia raised a brow, "I thought you'd murder him at first."

"And I proved you wrong when we became friends," She smiled, "Close friends. I actually trained him hard because I wanted to help his cause; I wanted him to be the best out there. After some time, you started to get closer and, eventually, I'd dare say we became friends or, at least, acquaintances."

" Friends." Irelia said, nodding. "We became friends."

Riven nodded her head in agreement, "Through our struggles regarding that night, we bonded. Then, I told you Cyrus was still alive and that I wanted him to pay for what he had done, so we travelled to Noxus. Noxian laws work in such a way that titles are for life, unless officially stripped of them. Since I was still alive but nobody knew about it, it could be deduced no one had taken my title of Hand away, which allowed us a safe way in."

"Didn't ensure a safe way out, though."

Riven shook her head. "We entered the wolf's maw demanding answers. I made it very clear that you were my guest and according to Noxian laws, the Hand's guests are always provided with diplomatic immunity, which didn't mean the Hand herself couldn't be reprimanded for her crimes." She said, grimacing at the memory. "Swain arrested me, declared me a traitor, stripped me of my titles and expatriated me, all before I requested a trial by combat, for it was the only way I'd escape a direct execution. The one positive thing I'll say about Swain is that he did respect your immunity, up until the point when my trial came and, in my last battle to win, I almost died."

"But then Diana and Leona came to your rescue."

Riven nodded. "Diana gifted me an amulet that I could use to call for her. I gave it to you, hoping it would protect you from nightmares." She smiled, "I forgot to mention that praying while touching it could end up with a Chosen or two appearing within a mile radius from us."

Irelia huffed a laugh, "That you did."

"So they helped us escape and, before we finished leaving Noxus behind, Darius caught up with us." Riven said, "And he did the one thing you would have never expected him to do, the one thing I hoped he would do; he betrayed Noxus by giving me Cyrus' whereabouts. That's how we ended in Piltover, where you finished ridding me of my ridiculous broadsword, before going to Zaun and catching Cyrus."

"And giving yourself up to Ionian justice."

Riven nodded. "That too."

Silence.

"Do you remember how many Ionians you killed the night of the invasion?"

It was a very cruel question, but it had to be done.

Riven narrowed her eyes in deep thought, before nodding her head, "Only one before battling you, I think. The rest, I believe I just harmed, but I didn't kill."

Irelia nodded her head. "You did strike many of my soldiers that night, but there was only one whose life you took." She pointed at the elderly couple Riven had been staring at while speaking during Cyrus' trial. "Those two are his parents." Riven looked at them and felt the air escaping her lungs. "They know you were his killer. They've known since the morning after, when I personally went to each of my soldiers' families and informed them of what happened."

Riven couldn't help herself as she slowly walked to them, abandoning her spot in the defendant's podium.

She saw their glassy eyes and felt her heart inside her chest.

She couldn't speak, couldn't do anything but stare, before she felt her own eyes get watery, before she felt her tears going down her cheeks.

"As Ionians, we believe balance is above everything and everyone," Irelia said. "If we tilt the scale one way, we must tilt it the other way until it reaches perfect equilibrium. What's taken without permission, must be given back." Irelia addressed everyone in the room as she spoke, "I think you've suffered enough for a lifetime, Riven, just like I believe that the price you've to pay to Ionia must not come in suffering, for suffering demands its' opposite. As of today, you're an exile with no nation to respond to, stripped of all what had once meant something to you. To top that off, you once explained that last names in Noxus could make or break you, so you renounced yours, for it held no prestige and you didn't want it holding you back from the destiny you craved, so that leaves you with no country to pledge allegiance to and no family to go back to. For a Noxian, you're nothing, you're no one."

Irelia paced around the room, "So, since we can agree that today you're no one , to make a decision we must look back and see who you were, when you were someone. You were once a Noxian who fought other just because of being who they were. Your criminal acts against Ionia could be summarized in one single act; taking a child from his house, killing a son and leaving a family broken. "

She turned to Karma, to the jury, "But as the defendant herself has said in the past, for I have heard her say it, what is broken can be reforged. In light of such a fact, I believe that what must come your way is a complete change of roles; to put yourself in the shoes of that who had been your enemy once and live a life through their perspective, knowing what you know, learning what you've yet to learn."

Riven turned to look at Irelia, surprised by her words, not having expected the Captain to reach such a conclusion.

Irelia disregarded her stare and continued. "I believe Riven should be naturalized as a Ionian and, were they to agree, she should be adopted into the family she shattered, helping them live an easy life, taking on the responsibilities the soldier she killed would have, were he alive today. She should have Ionian nationality and an Ionian last name, both which she will not be able to renounce ever again. For all the damage she's dealt, she should serve the country which she had once been so hellbent on destroying, on conquering. She should be a daughter, a soldier." She raised a brow, "An Ionian."

The room was quiet.

Karma's eyes shone. "Jury?"

The people in the jury box talked with each other, trying to reach a decision. After a few minutes, a woman stood up, "We cannot reach an agreement," She said, "So our vote is null."

"It's not too often that the jury box's vote on the guardian's decision is null," Karma mused out loud. "I think I've made my decision, but first I want to know one thing. Riven," She said, calling the former Noxian's attention. "Would you answer me a question?"

Riven nodded her head, "Anything."

"During Cyrus' trial, you said you now know life is more valuable than death." Karma said, "Could you tell me how you learned such a thing?"

"In Noxus it's said that life is common currency." Riven started. "You earn respect through fighting, through being strong. Sometimes, most of the times, it implies shedding blood, other's blood. Killing can be a normal way of handling the day, in Noxus. Killing can be seen as doing a favor, as a sort of payment, you name it." She frowned, "I used to think that way, but then one morning I decided my life should end, for it would be the right price to pay for my crimes against Ionia and I couldn't do it." She sighed, "I couldn't bring myself to do it, even as my life was a constant torture." She closed her eyes, "It helped me learn life can be way more punishing than death. Forcing someone to live through their misery is far more tortuous than offering a quick death. Not only that, I then met the people who, with time, I learned to call my friends." She continued. "Meeting them, getting to know them, it all helped turn my life away from misery, transform it into something worth living. They gave me a purpose, something to fight for and, through all of it, I learned one thing; living your life despite the hardships is a far better payment than death. Putting yourself in the service of others is invaluable and no amount of nothing can ever come close. It's the same currency; it's life, but offered in a far more exploitable way; through living it, instead of just ending it." She looked at Karma, "I find it hard to explain, but all of my livings have taught me that we should right our wrongs through our lives, not through our deaths, for they're far more valuable, for they are the time that transforms us and teaches us valuable lessons, for they are the lessons we share with others. A death will impact the dead person and their family. A life can impact a number of people so big that I cannot even think of it." She shook her head, "I can't explain myself properly and I apologise for that, but I hope you got what I meant, somewhere in there."

Karma nodded her head, "I think you've explained enough. Very well," She said, standing up, "I've made my decision. A lot of paperwork will ensue, which I deeply apologise for, Captain," She eyed Irelia, "But from now on, you, Riven, are Ionian. You'll join the Ionian army as soon as your citizenship is granted and, last but not least, if the elderly couple agree, you will also become part of their family, taking care of them and of all responsibilities that will come your way as their rightful, adopted daughter."

Irelia eyed the man and the woman, "What do you both say? I know she's not your son, she's not him but I promise she tries her best at being good."

They stared at Riven for a brief second, before looking at each other. As the woman nodded once, the man spoke, "We've decided to give her a chance to prove she's changed for the better."

Irelia smiled, approaching Riven, "Then it's settled." She placed her hand on Riven's shoulder. "From now on, Ionia's your home," She smirked, "And it would do you well to remember your last name with pride, Riven Konte."

The tears that had been falling from Riven's eyes multiplied at that as she laughed and allowed herself to cry freely, unable to keep herself from embracing the Captain.

Irelia froze, unable to react, until she heard clapping from all around her, as everyone in the courtroom —Targonians included— celebrated the end of Riven's trial.

"There's a lot of work to do," She said against Riven's hair, "Specially regarding your wounds."

"I'll be here for a long time," Riven replied, "I'm sure it will be fine."

Irelia laughed and returned the embrace, "Welcome home, Riven." She said against her ear, "I think it's a good time to tell you that I love you too. "

Riven laughed at her timing, "That's another thing to discuss."

"We'll have time for that later."

She felt the need, then, "Can I kiss you, Irelia—"

"Baby steps, Konte." Irelia said, "Baby steps."

And Riven just laughed.

* * *

NOW that it's all over, I must tell you all that I had SO MANY THOUGHTS while writing this that I found too funny and wanted to share. For example, by the 10k mark I was losing my mind and commenting it to everyone who knew I write LMFAO. Would y'all be interested in a sort of live-tweeting of my writing at some point? I could make a new twitter account for just that tbh.  
ON A MORE IMPORTANT MATTER. I want to inform you that I will not be posting in fanfiction dot net anymore. The process is too... bad and most of my readers are on another website we all know of so, once I finish with this fic, I will stop posting content here. I hope you understand! And I hope to see you around in that one other page :)  
I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you around for the epilogue!


	34. Beyond

She sat on her chair, her back against the long table that laid in the middle of the room as she had turned her seat to face the window that usually laid behind her, her eyes fiddling with an object of her past, one which did not serve a purpose anymore, but had been a game-changer, back them.

She heard a knock on the door, before the person on the other side opened it, "Everyone's already here for the meeting."

"Perfect." She said, her voice loud and clear, not looking over her shoulder at the voice's owner.

"Should I let them in?"

She turned on her chair, putting the old artifact she had been playing with away, "Yes, Captain. Thank you."

The Captain nodded her head, "Not a problem," And disappeared behind the door once more.

She stood up from her chair, placing it back in its normal position, as people filled the meeting room she was occupying by herself.

She met eyes with every single guest, nodding her head in acknowledgement as they bowed. Once they were all standing by their respective chairs, she spoke.

"Thank you for coming today," She started, "I know many of you live far away and the journey here wasn't a short one, so I really appreciate the efforts that have been put into this meeting. For those of you who haven't had the chance of meeting me before today, let me introduce myself; I'm Irelia Lito, former Captain of the Guard. The woman who greeted you at the door is Sao Sato, the current Captain of the Guard. Now, we may all take seat."

As she worded it into existence and took a seat herself, everyone in the room mimicked her action.

"I doubt any of us in this room is ignorant to what has been happening in the First Lands, but considering some of you live in a practical isolation, let me freshen up our minds; since our animosity with our external enemies has died out and we can finally look into the country's internal problems so as to better ourselves, fix what's broken and improve what's working, we've finally had the chance of doing something about our government _or lack thereof, _considering our past yet constant battles with Noxus have left us with no Emperor sitting on the throne of this palace. A lot has been discussed within these four walls and, after making a decision ourselves, we decided to ask the people and see if they agreed. A poll has been held _nationwide _and the results are clear; the monarchy of sorts that we had going on will be replaced by a far better form of government, one that's more democratic, one that divides the power into smaller pieces and disallows people to abuse it. All of you have been invited here today because we have considered you were the best choices of people to take care of the government in general, since us in here —and the people out there— find you all likeable, agreeable and in tune with Ionian ethics." She took out a big scroll and opened it on the table, "As you can see, the power has been divided into _ministries. _Each ministry will need a leader who will be in charge of administering what's under their domain in all of Ionia. Of course, each minister will be able to hire those who they think could aid in their duty. At the lead of the ministries, there will be chancellor, someone who'll be the face of Ionia for those outside of our lands —which means they'd also be the minister of foreign affairs—, but who will just be a sort of administrator for the ministries when it comes to duties internal to Ionia. To aid with such responsibilities, they may elect themselves an advisor, someone to help them organize the ministries and to help them lesser the workload, for it'll be plenty. Every five years, we will hold a national election to determine whether each minister —and the chancellor— remain, being reelected, or get replaced by someone new, someone who the people may choose. _You've _been chosen to be the first ministers in all of the history of Ionia, but know that you may reject the role if you're not interested. No one will force you into anything."

She allowed her eyes to run over all of the people in the room. Seeing no one spoke, she continued.

"Karma," She started, "You've been selected as the head of the ministry of justice, for your constant aid in trials and your ever accurate eye on how to preserve that which Ionia's after; equilibrium."

The woman's expression remained calm, the hint of a smirk being the only indication of her mood, "I shall serve Ionia in its' quest for balance."

Irelia smiled, "Excellent." Her eyes moved onto the next person, "Soraka, you've been selected as the head of the ministry of health, for rather obvious reasons."

The Starchild laughed while nodding, "I can see why I'd be selected. Sounds fair to me."

"Lee," She called the blind monk's name, "For your dedication to gathering knowledge and wisdom beyond your years and for your deep respect for Ionia's most sacred traditions, you've been designated the head of the ministry of education and culture."

The man nodded his head, "And so it shall be."

She continued down the list, "Shen, considering the people you have at your service and the abilities they possess, you've been designated the minister of interior."

The ninja looked at her and nodded once, though a frown remained on his expression. "What would my role be?"

"You are to assist me in domestic politics, regarding you and your people are masters at knowing what's going on in these lands." She raised a brow, "I mean, Akali would have been the best option for this ministry —no offense, Shen—, but I know she'd play hard to get, so I'd rather put you in the position and let her be your employee of sorts."

She man bit his own cheek to avoid laughing. "I understand. I'll do my best."

Irelia nodded, then looked at the noblewoman who sat next to him. "Senua, you come from a long lineage of wealthy economists and you've always known what was best for Ionia's coin. For that, you'll be the minister of economy."

The blonde woman nodded her head. "Sounds perfect."

"Kai," She said, looking at the last man on the table, "For your ties to every single family that has lucrative productions, you'll be the head of the ministry of development. Your goal will be to foment national productivity." She finished, watching him as he nodded, when the door suddenly opened up, "Ah, finally." Irelia said as her eyes moved towards the intruder. "I was wondering where you were."

"Apologies for my tardiness," Riven replied, before bowing deeply. "Asa and Shava required my assistance with a bit of housework and family comes first." She allowed her eyes to scan the room and she bowed once more, "Evening to you all." She said, before taking a seat.

"Riven," Irelia called her name, "You had already been briefed on the nature of this meeting, so I'll go straight to the point; due to your valuable experience, you've been designated to lead the ministry of security and defense. Your tasks involve taking care of the people's security, to protect them and serve them, taking care of criminals, as well as taking care of the country's defensive forces, protecting the nation from external threats. You will, therefore, have two different forces; the internal one, with the Captain of the Guard at its' lead and the external, with the Captain of the Army at its' lead."

Riven nodded, "Captain Sao and Captain Ban."

"Yes, they're both at your service."

Riven nodded, "Right away. I'll organize our troops with them as soon as this meeting is over."

"Excellent," Irelia said, "That leaves us with just the ministry of foreign affairs to be assigned." She looked at them all, "Since I was taking care of our external politics while we lacked a proper government, I was chosen by popular choice, but I would like to ask you all in this room whether you agree with such a choice or not." She declared, "I wouldn't want to give myself a role of power without having you agree, specially considering the minister of foreign affairs will also end up being the chancellor of Ionia."

"I think it's a wise decision," Karma voiced her thoughts. "You've been handling it pretty well."

"I think so, too," Soraka chimed in. "You've been doing it just fine up until now and, with your workload lessened by all of us, I think you'll do it even better now."

"Do we all agree?" Irelia asked, watching them all nod their heads. "Very well. I'll be the minister of foreign affairs and, therefore, the chancellor. The process to establish this new form of government will be long, messy and, right now, it probably is a bit precarious, but I think we're giving the first step in the right direction. We will make adjustments as we go and learn from our mistakes, until we manage to reach a style of government that suits us all, as a people." She smiled and stood up, everyone in the room mimicking her once more. "Thank you all for your attention. You're all invited to stay here in the Placidium for a few days, so we finish the paperwork these new actions ensue and we set up each ministry to have each of them working as soon as possible. Those of you who wish to remain here so as to speed up processes, please, follow Captain Sao Sato, the woman who brought you to this room earlier today. She will guide you to your respective rooms. Those who wish to go back home, you're free to go. We shall have another meeting tomorrow."

Everyone bowed their heads and, slowly, left the room, all of the trailing behind Sao.

All, except Riven.

Irelia looked at her and, upon finding her pouting, she raised a brow, "What now?"

Riven shrugged, "_Empress Lito _would have had a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Irelia shook her head and, letting out a long, frustrated sigh, she looked away, out to all of Ionia, through the window. "_Gods, _no. _Chancellor _Lito already sounds terrible."

She heard Riven chuckle, before the sound of her footsteps as she approached her resonated within the room. "Come on, you'll do just fine, _my_ _Chancellor."_ She said, her arms snaking their way around Irelia's waist as she hugged her from behind.

Irelia laughed at that, "_My Captain _will always sound way better."

Riven laughed, the sound low against her ear, "I agree with you."

Irelia turned around, her arms lazily draping themselves around the white haired warrior's neck. "You know the things it does to me, right?" She smirked, "Hearing you call me that?"

Riven smiled, her expression cocky, "After so many _one-on-one meetings _between you and I, I'd dare say _yes, _I have _at least _an idea of what it does to you."

Irelia pulled her in by the collar, "You're _insufferable." _She growled, before kissing her.

She felt rather than heard Riven hum in content, the warrior pushing her body against hers—

"_This _is new," Riven mumbled against her lips, her fingers gently pulling from the fabric of Irelia's clothes. "Isn't it?"

The blue haired Ionian nodded, pulling away to let the warrior take a good look at her; she was wearing a strapless white dress with golden details that reached down to her knees, a wide, golden belt keeping it in place around her waist, the lower end loose on her thighs, the higher one fit to her chest, hugging it comfortably. She twirled once, letting her see her back laid bare, before looking at her again, "Do you like it? Since I'm renouncing my duties as Captain of the Guard_, _I thought I could use a wardrobe change as well. Something a bit more _elegant, _maybe."

Riven's eyes were dark when she said, "I love it. It's a shame that I haven't seen it on your bedroom's floor as of yet."

Irelia laughed, before raising a brow, "You don't look too bad yourself, _Captain Konte."_

Riven grinned, before looking down at her own clothes; she was wearing a traditional, dark red full body suit that covered most of her skin, its' soft fabric covered by a few plates of armor that had been designed just for her, just like the suit; a breastplate covering her chest, a shoulder plate on her left shoulder, a gauntlet on her right hand and plates on her thighs, all of the armor made of a dark, greenish material, resistant as steel, with white-fur details on it.

"_Minister Konte, _since today," She winked, "And I've got no one but you to thank for it," She said, before looking at Irelia once more. "I was doing a fine job training the rookies these past few months, but I think I wouldn't have been able to train them as well as I have these past few days if it weren't for my great work uniform."

"Oh, no." The blue eyed woman said, "_That _wasn't a gift from _me," _Irelia frowned, "I thought you knew."

Riven's eyebrows rose. "No. Asa told me a package with my name on it had arrived at the house and I went to pick it up, thinking maybe it was a prank, only to find this armor in it." She narrowed her eyes, "I had thought it was you."

Irelia shook her head, "No, that was Sao." A beat, "And Ban." Another one, "And Orlon and some other of the rookies who had trained with you when you first arrived here."

Riven looked at her, surprised, "Really?" She saw Irelia nod, before looking down at her own armor once more.

"Feels different when you know that, right?"

Riven grinned as she nodded, "It feels different, indeed. It feels good." Upon realizing how that might have sounded, she added, "Not that I wouldn't have adored it had it been your gift, but—"

"_But _knowing they appreciate you feels nice," Irelia finished for her, "Don't worry, no offense taken." She said, looking at Riven as she relaxed, before dropping it on her. "Besides, I _do have _a surprise for you."

Riven raised a brow, "_Oh, _do you?" She asked, hearing Irelia hum in confirmation as she nodded, "My, my. And here I am, empty-handed."

Irelia smirked. "Pay it back _later, _Riven_. _I'm sure you already know how." And before her lover could comment on the potentially dirty declaration, she patted her arm, "Now, enough chit chat. Let's go see what I have for you."

Riven's eyes widened a bit, "Oh, you meant _now?"_

Irelia nodded, "It's in my office. I left it there before the meeting."

They walked out of the room, Irelia's arm linked with Riven's, a content smirk on Irelia's face, a full blown grin on Riven's.

As they walked through the hallways, Riven felt the former Captain's stare, "Do you like me _that _much?"

"Maybe I do," Irelia replied, "But I was actually looking at Soraka's handiwork on your wounds," Using her free hand, she daintily ran her fingers over Riven's temple, her cheek, her neck. "You're as good as new," She raised a brow, "Except for the new haircut."

Riven rolled her eyes, "I couldn't have _one _side of my head shaved and the rest long!"

Irelia allowed her fingers to run over Riven's hair for a bit; considering she had one side of her head hairless due to the fire, she had shaved the other side too, as well as the back, leaving only the top of her head with a bit of long hair, the rest of it as short as possible.

Riven used her free hand to run her fingers through it, styling it to the side, as she usually wore it ever since cutting it, "I promise I'll wear it as I used to when it _all _grows evenly again—"

"_Don't," _Irelia said, cutting her off. "Wear it like this, if you fancy it better. It suits you."

_You're hot._

Riven raised a brow, "Do you really think so?"

Irelia nodded. "Yes." _Absolutely, you hot idiot. _"Besides, will it ever grow on the side of your head that had been scarred?"

Riven nodded, "Soraka said it would, since it's all properly healed thanks to her magic." She said, before adding, "I think I even _see better _with this side's eye."

Irelia chuckled, "So you healed you _and _enhanced your vision?"

"I think she just overdid the healing."

Irelia laughed, before feeling Riven's eyes on her. "What?"

Riven gasped, "You _also _got a haircut!" She said.

Irelia raised a brow, "My hair is as long as it's always been, if not longer."

"Okay, but those bangs are _new."_

"Oh," Irelia said, as if having forgotten about that, "Yes, they are."

"They look good."

_You can't be this cute._

Irelia smiled, "Thank you."

As they reached Irelia's office, Riven opened the door and allowed for the blue haired woman to go in first, before stepping inside herself and closing the door behind her.

There was a big _thing _on Irelia's desk, wrapped in linen, a small piece of rope tying it up.

Riven's eyes were on it, "What's that?"

Irelia smiled at her, before moving towards her desk and motioning for the white haired warrior to come closer. "Something." She stepped to a side, leaning on her desk as she said, "Unwrap it."

Riven's eyes went from Irelia to the big _thing _on the desk and then she picked the package up. "It's a bit heavy," She said, getting excited, Irelia's grin only making it _worse._

She undid the small knot and took the rope away. She then proceeded to slowly unwrap it—

A gasp escaped her mouth as she saw what it was; A broadsword made of a silvery metal, with golden details on its' blade that got bigger and more defined as they approached the hilt. The hilt in itself was made of black leather and also had some detailing on it; small, patterned lines of silver and gold that criss-crossed it. Coming out of the pommel, there was a thin, long red string that had been tied up in a fancy knot.

"You can't be serious," Riven mumbled, before her eyes went up to Irelia. "You got me _this blade?"_

Irelia nodded, "I've heard it said that the sword is the reflection of its' wielder's soul, so I wanted to gift you a sword that would reflect _exactly _who you are, what you consider important in life, the things and people you love and fight for." She said, approaching the other woman, "It took me a while to decide its' design and get the right materials for it, but no one can say no to the _soon to be Chancellor _Irelia Lito," She smirked, her fingers roaming the sword's silvery blade, "The blade is made of _moonsilver, _a courtesy of Targon, to represent the influence Diana has had on you, on your journey, on the first steps you've taken with someone by your side. It demonstrates the Moon favors you more than it does with any other warrior." She then moved to the golden details on it, "This is _Demacian gold, _donated by Orlon, to represent how you've surpassed your own self, your own prejudices, managing to befriend people who you once swore you'd despise for the rest of your life." She touched the red string on the pommel, "This little thing came from Sao and Ban. Red strings are omens of good luck here in Ionia, so it's their way of granting you good fortune in your battles. It represents how, despite the hardships, you always have destiny's grace by your side, for you've managed to bury the hatchet and make amends with your past, thus leaving you in your present; from Noxian to Ionian, you're now someone different and the red that once represented _blood for Noxus, _now represents _Ionian good fortune. _It's a statement to how far you've come."

Irelia's eyes on the blade, she didn't see the way Riven was looking at her. "And the hilt? Does it represent something?"

Irelia nodded, "The hilt was the most difficult part of the sword." She told her, "You see, there's a thing from your previous sword that I wanted to keep in this one because it made you who you were, but I wanted to give it my own little twist." She ran her fingers over Riven's, "I wanted something delicate yet resistant. Durable." She moved Riven's hand away so that she could touch the hilt, "After the blacksmith delivered it, I got to work and I gave it its' final touch. Here," She said, grabbing Riven's hand once more, "Feel the hilt."

Riven pressed her fingers against it and felt it, inspecting it, before an alerted frown drew itself on her expression, "It has runes carved on it."

"It took me _months _to learn them; how they're drawn, what they do, everything I needed to know to use them safely, but eventually I managed."

Riven looked at her, "How did you learn?"

"Cyrus," Irelia simply stated. "He taught me much. Apparently, he has learned a lot about them ever since getting his." She raised a brow, "We must give it to him; he was far more responsible about their power than you were."

Riven nodded, "He was more cautious, at least."

Irelia felt the runes, one by one, "He taught me that it doesn't matter how _big _the rune is, as long as the wielder knows how to use them. He also taught me that the more in contact with the wielder they are, the better for the manipulation of their power, so I decided I'd carve them into the hilt." She grabbed Riven's fingers and made her feel the runes, one by one. "They're _strength, speed, wisdom _and _freedom." _She looked into Riven's eyes. "Strength to aid your attacks, speed to aid your evasiveness. Wisdom to guide you in your eternal learning and search for knowledge."

"And freedom?"

Irelia's hand found Riven's cheek, "Freedom, so that you're never again a prisoner; not of a nation nor a squadron, not of a past filled with ghosts nor of a war filled with regrets, not of duties and morals and values and ethics that mean nothing to you, for they're tainted, not of a mind that's been tormented for years before it finally found release from the torture." She smiled, "And last, but not least, not of a runic power that, this time, will know you as its' master and not as its' slave. _My _gift to you, in this blade, is a rune of protection that will always grant you _freedom, _so that _you _are the only owner of _yourself." _She looked down at the blade again, "The hilt with its' runes carved into it, barely visible to the naked eye, only noticeable due to the feel of it, represents how you will _always _be yours and yourself, no matter what. Your power, hidden against your skin, for it's yours only, coming from deep within you. The fact that _I _placed the runes there, coming to represent that you've got me eating from the palm of your hand," She looked at Riven in the eye, "Because I'm yours, Riven. I'm yours as you yourself are and nothing will ever change that, because I chose you in my _freedom _and I'm not backing out of that anytime soon_."_

Feeling the red stare too intense for her, Irelia looked away, chuckling, "I hope you like the sword," She said, "It was a collective effort and it took us around six months to finish it." A beat, "Well, it took _me _six months to finish it. Runes are hard to learn, you know?" Upon the lack of response, she looked up at the warrior, "What?"

Riven replied by dropping the sword on the desk and kissing her fiercely, her hands on the other woman's cheeks as she pulled her in, before they moved to the woman's waist, not giving her the chance of moving away from her.

"I'm not of my own domain, my Captain," Riven said against her lips in between kisses, "Because my heart, mind and soul belong to you. You attempted to steal them and I gave them to you freely."

And then it was Irelia the one who could not keep herself from kissing her.

Riven growled at the feeling of Irelia's tongue against her lip, before parting them, both of them completely unaware of the door as it opened—

"_Oh, by the Moon," _Sao quickly let out, her voice making them both pull away, a look of utter _fear _on their faces.

Irelia felt her heart pounding inside her chest, her face red, "Sao, we can exp—"

"_Nothing _to explain, Lito." Sao said, laughing as she calmed down, "Like, really." She raised a brow, "I already knew."

Irelia gasped, "What?" She looked at Riven, looking for an explanation—

"You aren't exactly _sneaky _about it, you now?" Sao replied, "_Everyone _in the Placidium knows, by now." She chuckled at their faces, "Well, I think it's safe to say _everyone in Ionia _knows."

Riven was staring at them both, wide eyed, while Irelia stuttered, "You mean to tell me _everyone knows about Riven and I?!" _She exhaled exasperatedly, "But, but what about me being the Chancellor? About Riven being the minister of, and what about our roles in the government, and what will they—"

"_Relax, woman!" _Sao shouted, making her quiet down. "Relax," She repeated. "Everyone knows and nobody cares. You will still be officially granted the chancellery, Riven will still be granted the ministry she's after, the government will not see itself affected and, in the end, those who matter, don't mind, while those who mind, don't matter." Sao said, making them both shut their gaping mouths. "Really, it's okay. All we ask is that you both stop unclothing each other with your eyes the way you do because the sexual tension in the air is so thick I could cut it with a knife." She waved at them so as to drop the topic, "Anyway, I came here to tell _you, _Riven, that Soraka would like to know what your decision will be _soon, _whatever that means. That's all! I'm off."

And with that, Sao disappeared behind the door.

Irelia frowned, "_What your decision will be?"_

Riven looked at her, "Soraka offered to get rid of my hands' scars. Her healing made some of the ones I have on my body get smaller and when I pointed it out, she offered to get rid of them. I told her it was okay, but then she asked me about the ones on my hands and, well, I wanted to think about it." She frowned as she looked down at them, "I never had the chance to erase them and more than once I had fantasized about it."

Irelia walked up to her, "They are the empirical proof of the lessons you've learned."

"And the constant reminder of the mistakes I've made."

She nodded, "They can be a beautiful reminder, just as much as they can be a tortuous sight." She mused out loud, before holding Riven's hands in hers. "What will you do?"

"I'm not sure," She looked at Irelia, "What's your two cents?"

Irelia raised her brows at Riven's hands, "I think I'd heal them a bit. Enough to erase the torture they represent, but not enough to get rid of the lessons they've taught."

Riven thought about it, before nodding, "Maybe I'll do that."

"Whatever you do," Irelia started, her hands going to the woman's face, slowly pulling her in, "I'm with you," She breathed out, kissing her.

Riven sighed against her lips, before her hands found Irelia's waist naturally.

As Irelia's arms snaked themselves around Riven's neck, both women remained there, voluntarily caught in their embrace.

Irelia's fingers were restless against the back of her neck, though, so Riven knew something was bothering her, "What's on your mind?" She asked her, her face still buried on the other woman's long hair.

"I'm afraid of being the Chancellor," Irelia admitted, "I feel like I'm not good enough for it," Upon hearing those words, Riven pulled away enough to look at her in the eyes, seeing the desperation in them as Irelia started, "What if I fail? What if I'm not capable of being the face of Ionia? What if—"

"When I first met you," Riven cut her off, "I could tell you were equal to me in terms of leadership." She smiled, "When I met you a second time, I could tell you had surpassed me and you were far better than anything I could ever aspire to be, anything I could ever hope for myself." She kissed Irelia's neck, her mouth against the soft skin as she mumbled, "You'll be fine, Irelia. You're perfect for the job. Besides, this time you've got several people ready to aid you with Ionia's every need." She sentenced, kissing Irelia's neck once more, before kissing her lips again.

"Could you do me a favor?" Irelia asked her, suddenly.

"Anything."

Irelia's nervous eyes met Riven's. "Would you serve me by being the Chancellor's advisor?" Her question had Riven pulling away a bit, surprised by the inquiry. "I know you're already at the lead of a ministry but I really could use your experience, you'd come very handy as my advisor. What do you say?"

Riven stared into blue eyes, before chuckling, "As if I'd say no to you." She nodded, "I'll serve you until I'm of no more use, _my Chancellor."_

Irelia sighed in relief, "Thank you," She said, before hugging her tightly.

Riven embraced her just as strongly. "I'm sure you'll do great, Lia."

Irelia laughed, "_Lia?" _She felt Riven nod. "That's new."

"Is it bad?" She felt Irelia shake her head. "Good. I'll keep it."

In the distance, out in Ionia, they heard the bells that indicated a ship had arrived, which prompted Irelia to move to the big window that was placed behind her desk, Riven following closely, before hugging her from behind as they both looked at the southern docks.

"That's a Targonian ship," Riven recognized it immediately.

Irelia hummed in confirmation. "There's still a week left before we carry out the ceremonies that officialize the new form of government and everybody's roles in it, but I thought it would be a wise thing to do to get started on our alliance pacts. Targon was first in the list, of course, so I invited Diana and Leona to Ionia, to discuss our alliance treatment."She smiled as she watched the ship, "They told me they had decided to come with their High Priestess, since she wanted to personally thank Soraka for helping her with her eyes."

Riven raised her brows, "The Starchild fixed her eyes, then?" She questioned, feeling Irelia nod, "And I missed it?"

"It happened right after your trial. You were busy with your citizenship's paperwork."

"Six months ago, then?" Irelia hummed in confirmation, prompting Riven to chuckle, "How time flies."

_Time._

The word brought something up in Irelia's mind.

She took out the object she had stored between her dress and its' belt, right before the ministers entered the meeting room, earlier in the day.

Riven's eyes moved to it. "Is that Ekko's stopwatch?" She questioned, thus making Irelia confirm it. "I didn't know you still had it."

Irelia frowned at the broken stopwatch as her fingers fiddled with it."Riven, can I ask you a question?"

The sudden serious tone surprised her. "Anything."

"If you could go back in time," She bit her lip, a bit afraid of asking what she wanted to ask, "Would you stop everything that's happened to you from happening?"

And she was afraid because, truth be told, she feared that Riven's answer would be _yes._

Because a _yes _would mean undoing their present together.

Because a _yes _would mean suffering in vain.

Because a _yes _could bring heartbreak with it.

Riven eyed the stopwatch, remembering the ominous way Irelia had behaved during their battle with Cyrus and Singed, "Is there something here that you know and I ignore?"

Irelia masked herself, getting a perfect bored expression on, before looking at Riven over her shoulder, "Just answer my question."

Riven stared at the watch, before looking out through the window, a chuckle escaping her lips. "I think my answer is obvious, Lia."

She closed her eyes, "You'd undo it, then."

She missed the way Riven's eyebrows shot up, "Of course not." She said, her tone demonstrating how surprised she was at Irelia's wrong guess, as if almost offended by the fact she even thought of it. "Why would I?"

"Because you could erase the pain you've endured. You could still have your squadron."

"At what cost?" Riven questioned, before a sigh escaped her lips. "We'll never know what _could have happened, _because it simply didn't happen, our present being the course of events that had to take place. Destiny is a curious thing, Lia, and it doesn't leave room for coincidences, for chances, for _possibilities and second alternatives. _I think that if I could go back in time, things would end up playing in the same way as they've done and I would be exactly where I must be, which is where I am today. Still, if I was given the chance, I wouldn't take it," She said, before making Irelia turn in her arms, so as to face her, "I wouldn't take it, because I've got too much to lose and I'm afraid of losing it. I'm afraid of losing the peace we've found, of losing the friends I've made, of losing the love I've found." She pulled Irelia even closer, "Of losing _you, _and I'd never dare even _risk _losing all of this, so my answer is a definite _no. _I wouldn't undo it because what's happened was destined to be, just like I was destined to be yours and, if I _had to go back _and I _had to go through it again, _I would let it play _just _as it has, for the story's ending is the one where I'm with you and you're with me. When you cannot save _everyone, _you have to choose _who _to save and I'll choose you over and over again because not only do I _want _to save you, I think you'll always be the one to deserve it." She raised a brow, "Does that make any sense?" She frowned at Irelia, "Why are you crying?"

Irelia shook her head, before smiling at the other woman. "It's nothing," She said, before giving her a light kiss, "Shall we go meet our guests?"

Riven stared at her for another moment, before letting it be. "Sure, let's go." She frowned once more, "I still have to scold Diana for not telling me about Leona's proposal, anyway."

Irelia raised a brow, "_Proposal?"_

"Leona asked Diana to _marry her," _Riven said, "And the idiot didn't think of telling me _right away! _I had to find out through a dream. She visited me there and invited us to their wedding, next month."

Irelia stared at her with wide eyes, "When did this happen?"

"Last week."

"And you didn't _tell me?"_

Riven's eyes widened upon realizing her mistake. "Oh."

They both stared at each other, Riven with a sheepish look, Irelia with a burning glare, but after a moment, the heat in her eyes faded as she bursted out laughing.

"What do you find so funny?" Riven asked her.

"Nothing," Irelia said, shaking her head, "I just really hope you don't forget to tell them when we end up where they are today."

Riven stared with shock in her eyes, "Are you asking me to marry you, _Chancellor Lito?"_

And despite the smile on her lips, Irelia playfully shoved Riven away.

"One step at a time, Konte."

Riven raised her hands in surrender, "Okay, one step at a time, but we give those steps _together._"

She missed the way Irelia looked at her when she gave her her reply.

"Yes. Together."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Aaaand that's the end, folks! Thank you all for reading BR and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

In my last update, I mentioned I'd stop writing here in but apparently I have A LOT of readers who are from here. I think I will not stop, but let me tell you that you may also find me on AO3 (Yes, the page I didn't want to mention by name in my last update, mostly bc I didn't know if it was allowed LMFAO) And, over there, since the commenting is far more uh... interactive? I guess? I can actually reply to your comments. You're more than welcome to follow me there instead of here, but know that I MAY keep on writing here. In any case, you'll always be able to find me on AO3!

AND ANOTHER THING: If you want to talk with me or give me a follow somewhere else (so as to always be updated whether i'm writing or not, whether i'm working on sth or not), I advise you follow me on twitter! mililap1

I'll always be tweeting about what's on my head there. If not, you may also find me on Tumblr ( mililap).

Anyways, I think that's all! I love y'all! See you soon!


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